


Chronicles of Jack: This is My Life

by Im Riddicks Bitch (DixionDiva)



Series: The Chronicles of Jack [3]
Category: Pitch Black (2000), Riddick (2013), The Chronicles of Riddick Series, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-01-30 06:09:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 24
Words: 40,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12647685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixionDiva/pseuds/Im%20Riddicks%20Bitch
Summary: The name’s Jack. Well, it’s Jackie now, but I’ve been Jack for a good part of my life. I've been in a private boarding school for the last few years. Now I'm 18 and I am following the comet said to precede an army, a ghost army.





	1. Family Means Something

**Author's Note:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> No copy-write infringement is intended, no money has been made. I own nothing, but my imagination we all know who these characters and their 'Verse belong to. I am just playing with them and promise to put them back where I found them. I am writing this story for my own enjoyment and in hopes that others might enjoy it too.
> 
> *The rape tag is for memories of teen on pre-teen rape. I will warn you when the nightmare and discussion come up, so those that wish to skip it can do so.*
> 
> All mistakes are my own.

**Chronicles of Jack:**  
**This is my life.**  
**Chapter 1**  
**Family Means Something**

     The name’s Jack. Well, it’s Jackie now, but I’ve been Jack for a good part of my life. He’d given me my name all those months before… not sure he’d caught it before he left.  
     Feel so tired, need sleep, need a good meal. Settled for a quick wash in the shower. I’d set the autopilot, but if the comet changed course the craft won’t make the adjustments. So I smell better at least, but I can’t sleep for the same reason.  
     I’m thinking about an MRE and grab jerky instead. That’s when the warning blares out and the com finally crackles to life. _“This is the Naiad of the Necromonger Armada. Do not resist or we will use force.”_ I almost started the evasive maneuvers I’d seen Riddick employ in a video game once. Told myself that wasn’t smart, I wanted them to take me to their leader.  
_**{Shit… I**_ _**need** **sleep!}**_ Made a cup of coffee and drank it black, hate the stuff without cream and sugar, but I had to function if I planned to find out about my family.  
     The vessel on approach was huge compared to my little two-man planet hopper. The com had been droning on for a while now. Same stupid shit, I got it the first fucken time! Turn off the engine and prepare to be boarded. _**{Idiots!}**_  
     The message changed suddenly. _“This is Captain Ford, turn on your engine and dock in our docking bay. If you do not comply we will not hesitate to use force.”_  
     Turning on the engine I maneuvered my little craft into their bay and did everything they instructed. Turned off the engine, opened the door, and walked to where they could see me standing hands raised to either side open palms to show I had no weapons in hand.  
     Soon three men entered, more stood surrounding the ship with weapons drawn. One man held a weapon on me while another did a pat down and the third stood watching. The pat-down should be done, but the guy went back up. I was being groped now and my hands balled into fists as I clenched my jaw.  
     Suddenly the first guy with the gun barked out _“Ah-ten-Chun!”_ everyone stood at attention and the grabby one had backed up to do so. Outside the men, all raised their weapons to their shoulder and a man in brighter armor walked in, his helmet showed him to be important. At a gesture I couldn’t see, all the men relaxed, outside the weapons were once again aimed at the craft.  
      _“Captain, no bombs or weapons were found on the outside of this vessel.”_ A man said after rushing in and saluting the new man (with a fist to his chest).  
      _“Thank you, Erin is it?”_ he said.  
_“Yes, sir.”_ The soldier answered with another salute.  
      _“That‘ll be all, Erin.”_ The captain said before turning towards me, that was when the watcher snapped to and reported.  
_“Captain, no weapons have been found on her person, sir. We were about to conduct a search of this craft, sir.”_ Was it just me or did he really sound like a suck up?  
     The captain looked me up and down and asked, _“Did this – girl state her intentions?”_  
      _“Sir?”_ The watcher asked uncertainly.  
     Turning his head toward the guy, the Captain looked at him as if he were a bug crawling across the floor. The guy who’d felt me up tried to save face and spoke up, _“Sir I checked her for weapons, and she’s clean.”_ I bit my cheek to stop the laughter that wanted to burst out.  
     The captain removed his helmet and I realized he was only a few years older than me; the others were all older than him. I sensed movement behind me and was suddenly standing behind the groper with my arms out at my sides, palms open. My back was against the wall, it felt safer somehow. It pissed off the groper though.  
     An eyebrow lifted on the Captain’s face and he asked softly, _“Is there a problem?”_ Then with a nod of his head, the soldiers were lined up next to him.  
      _“No problem that can’t be dealt with by keeping his hands off my breasts,”_ I stated, nodding at the groper.  
     The Captain did not look happy; he dismissed the groper and then sent for Erin. Meeting the soldier on the ramp he spoke softly telling him to have the groper’s superior officer re-convert him. Erin was off like a shot. The Captain asked me what my message was about, who had sent me, and for what purpose?  
     Told them my name and that I am searching for my family and a friend. _“My mother’s name is Lajjun, my sister is Ziza, and our friend is Riddick,”_ I stated as I watched the Necromongers for any sign of recognition.  
     The Captain’s eyes dilated and I knew that he knew Riddick or at least the name. We stood for a moment while he thought it through. Then he came to a decision.  
      _“We will continue this conversation after you have been converted. Once you are one of us, we will arrange to meet up with the Basilica where you can go to the throne room and see the Lord Marshal.”_ He informed me.  
      _“What’s the Basilica and what do you mean conversion?”_ I asked him.  
      _“If you wish to see the Lord Marshal then you must convert to our religion.”_ He said and turned to the watcher as if to give orders, but stopped at my words.  
      _“No! I’ll see the Lord Marshal first; I’m assuming that’s Riddick. If he tells me to convert, only then will I submit to conversion! Family means something to Riddick, tell him Jackie Boi al-Walid wants to speak to him. He’ll see me I’m sure of it!”_  
_“Men, take her to the conversion chamber and when…“_ Just then someone outside called out _“Senior Officer on Deck”_ and everyone came to attention, including the Captain.  
     A man entered my little craft and the room seemed to shrink, he removed his helmet and I saw he was very handsome. If I had not met Riddick and never heard his voice, I would have been lost when this man spoke. _“Captain, aren’t you going to introduce us?”_ He asked all silky smooth and refined.  
      _“Ca-Commander Vaako, this-this is Jackie al-Walid. Sh-she claims to be a friend of the L-Lord Marshal’s and will not submit to conversion, sir. We were about to take her to the conversion chamber, sir. I felt we could not execute her for the refusal if she is the Lord Marshal’s friend.”_  
     The Commander smiled and shook his head then spoke when the Captain was through, _“You are right, her execution would be a bad thing if she is a friend of the Lord Marshal. However, if you convert her against his wishes and she truly is a friend of his… well, I would not bet on your chances of survival.”_  
     The Commander moved in front of me and smiling said, _“She’s to be treated as the Lord Marshal’s guest, come Miss al-Walid I will take you to the Basilica. Captain you and a few of your men will join us.”_  
     I sat and looked out at the ships we passed, kept a calm expression on my face. The Armada I saw was HUGE! We approached what could only be called a city and docked.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	2. The Basilica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie is reunited with Riddick. NOT as happy as she'd hoped.

Chronicles of Jack:

This is my life.

Chapter 2

The Basilica

     I was being escorted into the Basilica, I could not help but look around, saw statues that clung to or came out of the walls. Smiling indulgently the Commander said, _“Magnificent isn’t it!”_

     To which I replied, _“I would have gone a different way.”_

     He did a double-take but was called away just then so I could not ask him why his heart had skipped a beat at my answer. He left the captain in charge of me and gave him instructions before he left.

     In no time we joined a queue into the throne room and I could smell Riddick’s scent all over the area, it was old and fading still it calmed and centered me. Soon, very soon I would be in his presence and then I would know how much of the rumors were true and if I would be welcomed or not. I was excited… and a bit afraid because I believed my cousin (if Kyra was really related to me) had passed herself off as me. Blood smell and all, my thigh has been going numb every now and then which is proof of the bone transplant and marrow harvesting someone performed on me. At least according to my school medical records (which is just their speculation-given, the healing bone graft in my thigh and the reoccurring numbness since then), I’ve a copy with my certificate of graduation that had been sent to my father on New Mecca.

     As we stood in the barely moving line I felt the need to use the restroom, I turned to the Captain and asked if I could use the bathroom. He gave me a menacing look that fell far short of even my own; I smiled and asserted my alpha. Informed him, “If I pee my pants there is going to be more than urine to clean up. It was the flow of blood that alerted me to my little problem.”

     At the blank look he gave me, I elaborated, _“I started my monthly cycle… I’m on the Rag… I got my period!”_ At the looks of horror on many of the faces around us, I smiled and whispered, _“That would definitely leave an impression and announce my presence here, but is it how you want to be remembered?”_

     He left a guard to hold our place in line then took me to the nearest restroom. He rushed me into a stall and stood outside the door with another man, I asked for a pad or tampon and was relieved when he handed me a pad beneath the door. By the dust on the wrapper, I’d guess it’s been awhile since anyone used the dispenser.

     After I finished and washed up we went back to the line and found that we were now by the door to the throne room. There were so many people standing around I was not sure if we were still in line. I couldn’t see Riddick with so many people between us, but his scent was so much stronger that I sniffed deeply taking in the stink of all the sweaty Necromongers. After about half an hour of moving slowly and standing, my thigh went numb and my feet began to hurt. I was not used to standing for so long, but the guards would not let me do more than fidget a little.

     Some people shifted restlessly and I got my first look at him in years, _“Riddick!”_ I breathed and saw his head shoot up instantly. Looking out at the crowd he tried to find the owner of the soft and excited exclamation. Unfortunately, his attention brought everyone else in the room to full attention and at 4’9 1/4” I was too short to be spotted with all these 5’ and 6’+ people in front of me.

     After another 20 minutes passed, I was finally past the pillars. Between the bodies of the Necros standing idly waiting, I noticed Riddick was bored and antsy. He needed to be up, moving or fighting. Suddenly I realized he was going to leave – soon and I would miss my chance to see him… at least for today. I had to do something and quick! I turned my body fully toward the throne and adjusted my pants, my scent thickened near me and I heard some of the Necros near me mumbling about the stench.

     Just then Riddick waved off an advisor and stood up to leave, as one the Necromongers all dropped to a knee, I felt the air rush out into the room and as it reached him I watched his head snap toward me. He breathed my name, in it I heard questions. _“Jack?”_

     The Captain had grabbed my wrist and yanked to make me kneel, with a sure twist of the arm I had him face down with my foot on his back before I knew it. Realization struck and I apologized, saying calmly, _“Hey that was reflex; I don’t like to be grabbed.”_ I let him go.

     One of the guards got to his feet and grabbed me by the back of the neck intending to force me to my knees. Riddick was suddenly there and the guard found himself pinned to the nearest pillar. Looking into his silvery eyes I found he was not happy and then he spoke and burst the bubble of happiness that had formed at seeing him.

    _“Who the fuck are you!? Why have you come, and why the hell do you smell like **Kyra**!?”_ He asked softly in the most menacing tone I had ever heard in my life. My heart had begun to race at the sight of him, the beta I had been cowed down and made the alpha in me angry. I stood tall and held my head high.

     Smiling hugely like I was crazy, I turned to face him and said in the most teasing manner I could, _“Ouch that hurts Riddick. I suppose I can forgive you, after all, it has been years and you never saw me with long hair. Guess it doesn’t help that my cousin pretended to be me. Hell, she even went so far as to take a piece of my femur so she could have my scent.”_

     At Riddick’s skeptical look I stifled a laugh and said, _“Look, I know it sounds nuts. That doesn’t change the fact that it is true. I get that it is hard for you to believe me. – Riddick, could we do this somewhere else, I really need to sit down; my thigh has gone numb and I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and that was a hand full of jerky and coffee. You remember I like a little coffee with my cream and sugar?”_ My stomach growled and in the quiet throne room, it sounded loud.

     Turning to the Captain he asked if I had been searched and when he said yes and his guards also nodded I whispered softly, _“Sure they patted me down, but as you promised they didn’t find your gift to me. They did not know what to search for.”_

     Riddick grabbed my upper arm in a rough grip and dragged me out of the throne room and down a hall. He asked in a whisper, _“What the fuck are you talking about!?” “Hey slow down,”_ I whispered back, _“I never mastered running and talking.”_ I saw the corner of his mouth twitch into a smile. As we reached a door, he turned to his right and said gruffly, _“Vaako, have lunch sent to my rooms; take care of anything that comes up. I AM NOT TO BE DISTURBED!”_

     Commander Vaako answered _“Sir!”_ and hurried off, I notice Riddick bristled and realized that he hated the abject order following. We reached another door and I heard the group following us stop. As we entered the sitting area, he turned abruptly and turned me to the wall with my arms and legs out to prevent me attacking him. He searched me quickly and thoroughly, came up with nothing. I was looking over my shoulder and when his eyes narrowed at my smile, I gave a half shrug and he grabbed my shirt and lifted the hem until my lower back was exposed. He reached for the blade and sheath I had placed as a shield over the sweet spot.

      _“Where’d you get this!?”_ he demanded angrily. I looked at him and told him tiredly, _“From my drawer, where you put it the day we swapped blood.”_ I turned my wrist to show him the thin scar on my forearm. With a shake of his head, he says, _“Not possible!”_ Then he hit the wall with the side of his fist in frustration. _“You can’t be Jack!”_ he stated in denial.

     I looked at him in disbelief and the silence stretched into awkwardness, I asked him softly, with all the hurt and frustration coloring my voice, _“What did she say to you, Riddick? How did Kyra convince you she was me?”_

     Riddick’s anger grew, but with it, I smelled guilt and I saw uncertainty on his face for a split second. Suddenly, I realized that she had not convinced him, she did not have too. He had been told she was me, by a man he’d once trusted. Abu al-Walid, my foster father! The pain was unbearable, tears filled my eyes and a strangled whisper was all I could manage, _“No…”_ I cleared my throat before I could continue, _“She didn’t have to convince you; he’d told you she was me.”_ I began to blink back the tears and let the anger out.

    _“What did he say, Riddick? Did he tell you I cried that I grieved your loss like I had for my parents, Shaza, and Fry?”_ He answered with a slight shake of the head. When he just stood there, watching me I went on. _“What did my father say to you?”_ my voice had gotten lower, the anger at Riddick for believing him was clear. _**You took his word!**_ My animal accused.

     I saw his eyes narrow at my insolence and felt his Alpha surge forward to push me down, the Bata I once was tried to comply but the Alpha I had become surged forward and shoved back. Riddick’s eyebrow quirked and he studied me for a moment before deciding to answer. _“Want to know what the Holy man said? He said, **‘She never forgave you for leaving – just when she needed you most.’** Said, **‘She thought of you as her big brother.’** Then he said, **‘She went looking for you, people died, she went to prison.’** So yeah, I believed him.”_

     Anger shot through me, _“After you made me promise to be good, do good things, live a good life and STAY on New Mecca? Even though you made me tell you why you had to leave? YOU still believed I’d… what? Go off with no idea where to look in hopes I’d stumble across your trail?! Shit, Riddick I know I did dumb shit as a kid, but I never willingly broke a promise I made you. How could you believe that I would break the biggest promise I made you?”_

     I moved without thought, I was as shocked as he was when I slapped him. He recovered faster. Grabbed my wrist and with a pull and twist, I was pinned to his chest with my arm twisted behind my back. I was aware of his scent and his steady heartbeat. With a sigh of contentment, I nuzzled my cheek on his chest. He moved away so fast that I stumbled and grabbed his arm. Holding his arm tight to 1) stop him from leaving and 2) keep me upright.

     To my surprise, he did stop and support me. When the knock came, he called out for them to come in. As the servants entered with trays and dishes, he turned the strange pose we were in, into a gallant escorting to the dining room. He guided me to the seat on his left and I noticed that the table had been moved to an angle giving him a seat with his back to two walls and total advantage on anyone entering from either door. We sat and my stomach rumbled at the smell of food. Chuckling softly he grabbed my plate and asked what I’d like to eat. I made some selections and he served me, then he piled a lot of meat and a few veggies on his plate. Before I could lift my fork he asked, _“So what can you show me to prove you are the Jack I knew?”_ I sighed and said, _“Well, everything I own is on the two-man ship I bought off of one of the guys from school. All my clothes, computer, tablet, paintings, and pictures are all on the ship. They took my cellular, but communications weren’t really up last I checked and most of my friends were going to places I could not call anyway. Only that blade made it past them, I had no other weapons.”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So am I a friend or family?” He asked, “Five years ago I would have said both," she says...

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**This is my life.**

**Chapter 3**

**Reunion**

     I was again about to take a bite of food when he said, _“How can I be sure **you** didn’t steal Kyra’s femur to smell like her?”_ Anger again rose in me and I clenched my teeth then closed my eyes as I breathed deep centering my thoughts on Goliath. With a sad smile, I put the fork down and answered, _“You can’t, Riddick. Nothing I say can convince you unless you want to believe. I showed you my scar where we swapped blood. You can see the one on my thigh, not that it would matter. You won’t believe, not unless you want to.”_

     He asked, _“D’ they ask why you’re here?”_ I nodded and he asked, _“You tell them.”_ Taking a moment to sip some water, I told him, _“Looking for my family and a friend.” “They just brought you here?”_ He asked puzzled. _“No,”_ I said, _“They said I had to be converted to their faith. Told them that was not happening unless you told me to, in person. I would not go and then a Commander came in and said if I was your friend that you wouldn’t be happy if I was converted without your say so.”_

      _“So am I a friend or family?”_ He asked and I got the impression I had better be very careful how I answered. _“Five years ago I would have said both, it’s been a long time Riddick, but to me you are family… it’s the friend part I’m not sure of.”_ He was studying me intently and I was looking into his face. After a moment or two, I said to him, _“Look you want to know why I’ve come, right? I want to know where my family is. I left for New Mecca the day I turned eighteen because the boarding school had rules and I could not leave. Once I got home to my foster parents’ house I found a new family was living in the bombed out, looted house. People came and told me my father was dead, he’d died the day of the invasion, they said a man with long hair and a beard came to the house that the army came searching for a spy; the holy men yelled that he was there to help. Next time the man was seen he was bald and clean shaven, I hoped that meant it was you. They said he left and the Necromongers came, my father took his wife and daughter toward the shelter. He died and the bald man brought them home then disappeared. The Armada suddenly started to leave and then everyone was afraid, but everything stopped and the man came back with a group of Necromongers and took my mother and Ziza somewhere. They did not know if they had been taken to a new home in New Mecca or if they were taken off world. I searched for them for another week but found no sign and no scent. So I came after the comet to find out what happened to them.”_

    _“Dangerous to follow this army, they could have shot your ship to bits.”_ He said in a calm voice that I could tell was Riddick’s angry tone. Fighting the smile that wanted to spread across my face, I said, _“That’s why I came in broadcasting the request for an audience with the new Lord Marshal and said he was a friend.”_

    _“How did you keep them from taking you to the conversion chamber straight away?”_ He asked me. _“I told the Captain that I was looking for my mother, sister, and Riddick; he reacted to the name. Then he said that after conversion I could wait for a meet. So I said ‘Look family means something to Riddick so I won’t submit to conversion without his say so. Tell him Jackie Boi al-Walid wants to see him.”_ He cocked his head and I smiled, _“Then what happened?”_ He asked.

      _“Then the other guy came in and the Captain called him Commander Vaako. The Commander took me on board his ship and made the Captain and a couple of his guards come with us. When we got to the Basilica he was called away, then the Captain and guards walked me to the line. Had to use the restroom and get a pad, but until I said the word PERIOD the men did not understand me, after that they couldn’t get me to the restroom fast enough. When we got back to the line we were at the door to the throne room. I said your name when I saw you as the Necros moved around and you looked around, but I’m short so the Necros’ standing straighter hid me. After about twenty minutes or so, you were restless and I was upset ‘cause you would leave and I would not see you. I began to move and I heard some Necros complain about the smell so I hoped that it would be enough for you to smell it. Then you went to get up and everyone hit the floor, but me."_

      _“When the Captain grabbed my wrist, I didn’t even think just let my animal react and she had him on the ground. Soon as I realized what happened I let him up and said it was a reflex, told him I didn’t like to be grabbed. The bigger guard got up and grabbed me by the neck, I had thought he was going to hurt me, but I hoped you’d stop him so I waited. You did not disappoint.”_ I said. Still didn’t know where the rest of my family was, but I felt safe and was in no rush to leave his presence.

     He had been studying me intently when suddenly we heard a door down the hall open, he stiffened and rose quickly walking to the closed door to his right. I stood up as a familiar scent reached me freezing where I was at his words. _“Stay where you are, don’t move a muscle!”_ My heart started racing, he opened the door and said in a pleasant drawl, _“Hey kid, got a surprise for you.”_ Then I heard Lajjun whisper, _“Please Mr. Riddick, not another pet.”_ I knew he was smiling wickedly and could not have stopped my own smile. I felt his eyes dart my way, but Ziza rushed in and I could not take my eyes off her.

      _“What did you get me Uncle Riddick?”_ said the sweetest voice I missed so much and tears sprang to my eyes, I blinked rapidly and opened my arms. Ziza looked around, her eyes passing right over me before coming back and really looking. She screamed, _“Jack!”_ and ran into my arms. Lajjun stepped in and said softly, _“Thank Allah, Jackie you are here, I prayed for your safe return, but someone told us you were dead.”_

     Lifting Ziza onto my hip I opened my other arm and hugged the woman who’d become my mother. I whispered into her ear, _“Don’t blame him, Mother he was given bad information.”_ She whispered back, _“What do you mean?”_ and I said, _“Kyra claimed to be me, she died – he thought I was dead.”_ Ziza squirmed in my arms and said loudly, _“What are you whispering about? Why don’t you talk louder?”_ Turning my attention to her I said, _“Oh my Ziza! How I have missed you!”_ I hugged her to me and Lajjun took us both in her embrace. I said to them, _“I’ve missed you both, I love you so much!”_

     Lajjun’s arm tightened around me and she said, _“We too have missed and love you, my daughter. Your father wanted to go back to that school to get you, but he kept telling himself you were safer there. He said no one would look for you there; they might look for the boy named Jack B. Badd, but they would never find him at that school.”_ Nodding with tears in my eyes as I fought the anger at my father’s betrayal I said softly, _“Father did always want to protect me.”_

     “He only wanted what was best for you, he loved you so much.” She assured me. “I know, mother,” I answered and felt Riddick’s eyes bore into my back at the falsehood. I continued saying, “I didn’t want to leave home, but Kyra convinced him I was safer at that school and nothing I said would sway him. Then when the rumors of an invasion by the ghost army surfaced he insisted I stay where I was, but would not send you and Ziza away. I didn’t know what to think.”

      _“Oh, but he tried to send us away many times. I refused to leave him and he would not send Ziza alone for fear that something might happen to her as it had to you.”_ I felt the tears well in my eyes and blinked them back as I cleared my throat. Riddick motioned to the table and invited us to join him with one word. _“Ladies?”_ He served the new arrivals plates filled with vegetables and poured Ziza’s juice. Smiling up at him she thanked him and made him smile. Then he asked her to say grace and we all bowed our heads. I peeked out and saw Riddick’s eyes were closed, but he still motioned for me to bow my head. Smirking I did so then became serious when Ziza thanked Allah for bringing me home safely. I whispered my amen, as I didn’t trust my voice not to crack. Riddick eyed me as I looked at Ziza.

     As we ate Lajjun directed our conversation, soon Ziza was sitting in my lap and eating veggies from my plate. Lajjun wiped her tears with her napkin and said to Riddick, _“It brings back so many memories, Jackie and Ziza share a special bond. So much more than sisters, Jackie could have been her mother; not even their father could come between them.”_ She spoke without bitterness for my usurping of her spot in Ziza’s heart and with a warning for Riddick about coming between us. She knew our closeness was instinctual and not done to hurt her; that we both cared for her deeply. Riddick had been watching us but turned to study Lajjun at her warning.

     Ziza took the opportunity that the lull in the conversation presented and suddenly asked, _“Sister, did you have lots of boyfriends at that boarding school?”_ I felt the heat rise in my face as the attention of both the other adults in the room zeroed in on me. I answered honestly, for I had never lied to Ziza and wouldn’t start now. _“I had a few, but most just ended up being friends.”_ I said aloud then stage-whispered to her, _“None of them could compare to my secret crush!”_ She began to giggle and then laugh and Lajjun and I joined in. Riddick gave a half-hearted smile. I was beginning to think that Riddick might be jealous of this secret crush, which would mean he had feelings for me as well. I hoped that I was not just seeing what I wanted to see. As Lajjun finished her lunch she called to Ziza, who hugged me and asked in a whisper, _“You’re going to stay aren’t you?”_ I held her close and said, _“that’s the plan.”_

     Ziza jumped from my lap and ran to Riddick, he lifted her to his lap and she hugged him and whispered, _“Jack is gonna stay isn’t she Uncle Riddick?”_ He whispered back, _“For as long as she wants to, Kiddo.”_ All the while he was looking me in the eye. Turning in his arms she whispered, _“Forever?”_ and I could only nod and smile. Riddick smiled at her as she turned around and hugged him again saying, _“Oh, thank you so much Uncle Riddick!”_ and kissed his cheek. I smiled to see his face light up at her joy and enthusiasm. Lajjun motioned for Ziza to hurry and then had to say they’d see me tonight at dinner in order for her to go. As she hurried her daughter in front of her she turned back when she’d passed Riddick’s chair and mouthed the words, _“Go for it!”_

     Riddick had looked at me right then and I knew he must have seen every emotion that crossed my face. I felt surprised at her encouragement, excited by the prospect, and embarrassed that he’d seen it on my face. He, however, turned to see my family exiting the door they had entered through. When he turned back he had a puzzled expression on his face. I could not look him in the eyes as I tried to get over my embarrassment. He finally asked if I was finished eating when I had pushed the food left on my plate around for the fourth time.

     As he stood he reached for my hand and walked me to a different seating area. As we walked he began to speak, _“Ziza and Lajjun think you are who you claim to be. Now you have to convince me.”_ That got my full attention and I bit my lip to stop myself giving voice to the first things that came to mind. **[I knew the angry retorts, _“What their word isn’t good enough for you?”_ or _“Didn’t know that TRUST NO ONE applied to family too!”_ would not go over very well.]**

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	4. Convince Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I spoke softly, “Ask me anything, Riddick. Something you know your Jack would know.”
> 
> “Fair enough, something no one else would know..." Riddick stated.

Chronicles of Jack:

This is my life.

Chapter 4

Convince Me

     Breathing deeply I spoke softly, _“Ask me anything, Riddick. Something you know your Jack would know.”_ Riddick motioned for me to take a seat. I sat in an oversized chair that would comfortably allow us both to sit if we cuddled. He said, _“What were you thinking that first time you saw me on the Hunter-Gratzner? What made you laugh?”_ Smiling at the memory I answered, _“I was thinking you were enjoying all this; that the sheeple were scared of you and as long as they stayed out of your way, you wouldn’t bother with them. I laughed at the thought but immediately felt guilty because my parents had just died. – Not that I ever told you any of that, Riddick!”_ He had smiled at my use of the word sheeple and laughed outright at my last statement.

_“Fair enough, something no one else would know. Okay, tell me what decided Johns’ fate, what did he say to me?”_ He asked me. _“He was talking about fishing, about trailing the bait way behind. The Imam asked Fry what you two could be up to and she told us to slow down. Johns told you that we weren’t all gonna survive, that those that could, should have their best chance. Fry made us slow down more and the space between us began to grow. You asked him who he had in mind, and he said, **“Jesus! Don’t look at them!”** Then he said, **“They already have the girl’s scent. I’ll keep ‘em all off your back and you can do the girl. Not too big a job for ya is it, Riddick.”** You told him it wasn’t too big a job, but you thought we’d need bigger bait. Then I think you smiled at him when he asked who you had in mind ‘cause the next thing I knew I saw you two collide and I heard an ugly pop and Fry yelled for us to run and leave the sled. I had to go with them, you’d told me to stay in the middle of the group.” _

_“Is there anything you can tell me about my time with Jack that no one else would know?”_ He asked as he watched me. Sighing deeply I said, _“After all the stories I told Ziza about the crash, Hades, the Merc-ship and the planet hops to New Mecca there isn’t much Ziza doesn’t know about. In fact, she knows you’d sneak into my room on New Mecca because I could not sleep through the night without you – I had to learn fast when you left. Abu thought that my nightmares had come back because you weren’t in the house. I made him continue to believe that, I told him your scent had faded throughout the house. That knowing you were downstairs had kept the dreams away. Once you were gone, they came back.”_

_“You told Ziza a lot. Trust the kid that much, huh?” He asked as he watched me. Smiling I said, “Yes, I do trust her. I trust her completely. Like I once trusted you, Riddick… like I’d like to trust you again.”_ I watched him and saw an eyebrow lift as he listened to me. He then shifted in his seat and said, _“I think you can’t be Jack, ‘cause Jack learned a lesson in our first interaction.”_ The look on his face was hard to read; seemed to be disappointment, anger and something else all mixed up inside him. My heart ached for him and I could not mask it, He looked at me and grew suspicious. Speaking of our first interaction I said, _“Your speed surprised me, not because you were so fast, but because I’d grown up hiding my abilities; all my life my mom had done the same.”_ I gave a chuckle, _“That you caught me wasn’t surprising after all breathing oxygen-enriched air into a pre-teen’s face, that’s a hell of a distraction. Teaching me not to trust anyone, well I hadn’t trusted the Merc to begin with because he was posing as a cop even if he never actually said he was one. Even then I trusted you. As soon as he was near the corner by the lockers, I smelled the morphine oozing from his pores. I knew then he would have shot me and then you, would have said you got me to help you escape or that you grabbed me and when he shot at you, you used me for a shield. You saved me so later I stood out of your reach, but in front of you to save your life. Then Fry got between Johns and me, I saw his eyes caress her body, smelled his lust and I knew she didn’t realize any of that._

_“Yeah, I trusted you completely, and Shazza -- mostly, but I trusted the Imam would not let anyone mess with the boys (including me). Fry, I was not sure about, but she kept putting our safety first. The only thing was… I grew up with a dad that made fast friends; he showed a lot of trust. Mom was much more reserved; she always kept her trust close. Other’s believed she trusted them, but really she only trusted my dad and me._

_“I’ve always been like my dad; trust everyone until they prove they aren’t trustworthy. Well, really take people at face value. Some people really look untrustworthy; then again you may find the guy you trusted and the one you didn’t should have been switched.”_ As he just looked at me like he didn’t understand me; I continued with, _“Hell Riddick why do you think I would talk to those guys that looked down on their luck? You never saw me talking to the shifty looking ones. You’d still come yank me away from some of them like I should know better. Then I’d see you talking to some shady characters and you’d wave me over and say something like, **‘little brother if you or the holy-man ever need anything and I’m not around – so and so – is the man to see.’** Then under your breath or later you’d say, **‘Don’t come alone.’** Or, **‘Stay close to him – he’ll keep you safe.’** I always trusted your judgment over my own. I still take people at face value for the most part. Think I do pretty well in keeping my full trust until the person deserves it. I still trust pretty freely, it’s who I am.”_ I said with a shrug.

     I thought he was starting to believe I might be Jack, but part of him didn’t want me to be. What was Kyra then if not Jack all grown up? I was not happy right now; my cousin had taken my place in his heart. She’d made him believe things about me and I didn’t know what! Whatever she’d told him must’ve been sufficient to blind him to some basic facts. I couldn’t stand the silence and so I said softly, _“Riddick, will you answer a question for me? About my father and my cousin?”_ He was weary again, stared into my eyes. I looked back with all the sadness and longing for answers in my eyes. He tilted his head to the side and raised one shoulder in a half-shrug. He put a leg up on the sofa he was sitting on and it seemed to me his animal had just invited mine to play.

     Before I could think I’d sprung from my seat and began to prowl around the room. I rounded the end of his couch and looked at him, _“What did they say?”_ I asked. _“My father and cousin… how did they make you believe she was me?”_ His body was tense and he stared at the coffee table, I thought he would not answer, but then he spoke. _“Five years had passed since I left two people in New Mecca. I’d told one person where I might go. Mercs came… a four-man crew.”_ He shook his head like he was calling them idiots in his thoughts. _“Would have let them leave, but the boss man could only see dollar signs. Tried to net me twice and missed, third time an anchoring spike got me in the calf, pulled it free and invited them in...to play. Ghosted the two in harnesses, the net gun, and live rounds. Stepped onto the ship and listened to the two inside. Bossman told the Merc to grab a gun and open the door. I took into account that he was all for leaving and coming back later. So I tossed him out when we were over deep snow, gave him a chance. Then I spoke to the boss, he said the bounty was at 1.5 mil. and it was a private party out of New Mecca. I tossed him out and took the ship to see a holy man._

_“Went into cryo to sleep and heal. Slept deep, for once. Next thing I know my shields are forced down, blinding me with sunlight. Ditched the military pilot and landed. Went to the holy man’s house, found some woman in the shower and a child taking a nap. Smelled him all through the house, noticed one scent was missing. Decided to do some grooming, shaved off my beard and finished the hair as he got home. Confronted him about the bounty; asked if I trusted the wrong man. He said it was complicated – called me Riddick. The wife and kid had come out and I heard a gasp at my name. I don’t think I would’ve pressed him then, but he didn’t want to tell me the kids name when I asked. She’s like you, trusting… told me her name. Asked me if I really killed monsters that had wanted to eat her dad. He shrugged and said, ‘Such are our bedtime stories.’ Told him he had a cute kid, left unsaid he should have two. “We talked in his study, saw she was trying to listen in or maybe she was just watching me. Closed the door, he thought I wasn’t listening. Proved I was by telling him ‘You said it was all circling the drain. It all had to end sometime. Now, who do I have to kill to get this bounty off my neck?!’ He explained that people would be there soon to discuss it. Met with some holy men and an Elemental. She said ‘Have you ever come across another like you?’ Said, ‘Another… Lady, they don’t know what to do with one of me!’ They said I had to kill some Big Bad leading an army, it was my destiny. Told them I wasn’t killing anyone, I make my own destiny. “The soldiers came banging on the door, said they were searching for a spy. The holy men said they’d talk to them then your pops asked me to reconsider, told him ‘Not my problem!”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	5. You mentioned ‘Her’?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riddick tells his story... Jackie can't keep her eyes open by the end. Wait! Did she dream that?

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**This is My Life.**

**Chapter 5**

_**"You mentioned ‘Her’?"** _

 

      _“So you are going to leave us to our fate, just as you did **her**?!” He left the room, I stayed; had to kill a few New Meccan soldiers to do so. The last one was holding a knife to the holy-man, just a kid really. I let him go when he ran. Said, ‘You mentioned **'her'**?’ He told me, ‘She never forgave you for leaving, just when she needed you most.’ I cut him off, yelled ‘You were supposed to watch her; keep her safe!’ He told me, ‘She idolized you! She thought of you as a brother. She went looking for you… people died; she went to prison!’ Asked, ‘Where is she?’ Told me, ‘I don’t remember the name… it was said that the surface was so hot you could not walk on it. The prison is underground.’ Knew it had to be Crematoria. Couldn’t leave Jack in the slam, so I left to make sure the Merc could find me. I reached an alley and looked up to see the Necros large ships dropping smaller ones that were gonna overwhelm the planet's military._

_“Was still gonna leave when I reached a street where the Necro foot soldiers had already gone through. Lot of bodies and a little girl with wild hair that made me think of the one that I’d just met. Had to get her to safety when the memory of another girl hit me, ‘Never had a doubt.’ Can’t get her and leave her parents so I lead them, we got separated when a cleanup crew came down the street; the group had lensers with them. Holy-man told them to stay there and he boldly walked out in front of the Necros then ran down the street. The lensers their handlers and a soldier with a gun were still there. Killed them all and told the wife to hide and went after the holy-man. When I found them the group was leaving, smelled blood. Found him already dead; caught the other guy’s scent. Took care of business and let Toombs catch me._

_“As for Kyra, first time I set eyes on her she had just broken a guy’s neck that had been coming up behind me as I dealt with a few coming at me at once. Turned to see, she was winding up a long piece of chain. She left and the Gov distracted me. Then she put a pair of scissors into my back described the sweet spot asked me how to ‘get eyes like that?’ Told her, ‘First, you gotta kill a few people.’ She said ‘Did that. Did a lot of that!’ Said to her, ‘Next you get sent to a slam—‘ She cut me off saying, ‘Where they say you’ll never see daylight again? But there wasn’t any doctor to shine my eyes for 20 menthols or any of the shit you said!’ She dug the blade in a bit, so I grabbed her and swung her into the bars with my forearm keeping her pinned in place. Said to her, ‘Remember who you’re talking to -- Jack.’_

_"She told me, ‘Jack was weak. She couldn’t cut it!’ Sliced my cheek and moved out of the cell. I see her down some stairs. She said, ‘The names Kyra and I’m a new animal.’ An animal roared just then. After I met the beast and made friends, the Gov invited me in for tea. He let me know she could hold her own with one or two guys; it was when they ganged up that she ended up in trouble. Usually, that was when they’d throw her in the empty cage between hellhounds. Someone came in and said the guards had trapped her, took my cup of tea and went there. Told them I didn’t think she liked to be touched. Had to kill one guard with the cup. They sent another toward me so I picked up the metal can key that opens the can and put that where I had set the cup before the first guard charged. This one decided to take my earlier suggestion to take their wounded and go._

_"After they left she gets smart, says ‘Death by teacup now why didn’t I think of that?’ Told her, ‘I didn’t come here to play who’s the better killer!’ She said, ‘But it’s my favorite game.’ Told her the Imam sent me, said he told me she left to look for me. She said, ‘So what are you saying that your leaving was a good thing? That you had my ass covered from halfway across the Verse?’ Pissed me off so I said, ‘I had Mercs on my neck! I’ll always have Mercs on my neck!’ She fired back saying, ‘Then you missed the best part! Hooked up with Mercs out of Lupus 5. They told me they’d show me the ropes, give me a good cut. They slaved me out, Riddick!’ Yanked out a light fixture and yelled at her, ‘I told you to stay put! Why did you not listen?’ We got into it… Was so angry I had to walk away, did not want to do something I’d regret. She said to me in a voice halfway between anger and pleading, ‘There was no one around…’ That got to me – I remembered trying to leave you behind; fighting myself to stop the damned thing from getting you saw you fight for your life and I couldn’t let you die, not like that. It physically hurt -- to take another step away from you. Until you were safe in that cave, and I was able to get the cells to the ship. That was when all bets were off, kids always trip me up. Johns wouldn’t have caught me if he hadn’t threatened to kill a couple of kids in an alley. Was getting attached to you, Jack._

_“Thought it might be better to take the ship and go for help alone, might get rescued sooner and get someone back quick with better lights. When Carolyn Fry showed up I had already decided I would fly over to the cave and light you to a place where I could pick you up. Saw Fry and thought ‘This Bitch left the kid or did she come to make me go back for them?’ So I told her to come with me I’d make it easy for her. She said she couldn’t, then said that she knew I was testing her. Pretended that I wasn’t, she fought me and I asked ‘Would you die for them?!” She said, ‘I would try for them!’ and I said, ‘you didn’t answer me; would you **DIE** for **THEM**?!’ She yelled, ‘ **YES!** Yes, I would, I would die for them, Riddick! I would die for **Them**!” I looked at her and said, ‘Interesting.’ We went back for you two and then when I was separated… she came back for me too.” He sighed heavily and said, “Last thing she ever said to me was, ‘I said I would die for them, Riddick. Not for you, so get your ass up and come on.’ Then she was suddenly ripped out of my arms. I fell to the ground and screamed out at the night. ‘ **Not For Me!** You said, not for me!’ I know the guilt you felt when I told you too many people stood between you and death. It was a low blow, but I wanted you to understand those of us who put ourselves in front of others we don’t want to die, we just want you to live more. Kyra seemed to know so much about things I had only ever told you! Don’t know why I thought you wouldn’t tell it wasn’t like they were secrets, we didn’t have many and the few we did have were to keep the peace between the holy man and me. Not that you kept them so secret either.” _ He said to me as he gave me a pointed look. _“She’ll take that secret to the grave, Riddick. Even Lajjun doesn’t know about the house, she might suspect, but she has never asked me.”_ I said to him in all seriousness.

     With a nod, he said softly, _“The thing that convinced me Kyra could be Jack all grown up was when the guards realized Toombs had led the Ghost Army to their door. I let the others in and told them what went down. Toombs asked how I could know, I had not been there; told him it was my plan. That was when I popped the cork and Kyra said, ‘I know that look, I don’t even have to see your face and I know that look.’ She was behind me not where she could see my face. The Gov asked, ‘What? What is it?’ She said to him, ‘He’s thinking of running the surface while they run the tunnels.’ He nodded, said, ‘The night is moving in the right direction, it’s possible if we keep ahead of the sun.’ Turned to them all and said, ‘There is going to be one speed. Mine. So if you can’t keep up, don’t step up, you’ll just die.’ I stuck Toombs in the empty cage between the hellhounds and we took off… How could she know? It had to be Jack, the only logical answer. But then how could it be, she was doing things I told Jack never to do. We had a shoot-out with the guards; I killed the guy that claimed he could smell trouble. Kyra ran up shooting at the warden who was shooting at every inmate he saw. She kept shooting even after the hatch had closed and she was out of bullets. Gave her a look you would have understood. Took off and she caught up fast, I asked her, ‘What was that? You don’t care if you die?’ She smiled and said, ‘If I kill them first, not really!’ Pissed me the fuck off, how could the kid I knew fought a monster to live just throw her life away; Guess I should have realized right then she was not you. Don’t know if it really mattered, she already told me what she’d been through at the age of twelve and I knew we had celebrated your thirteenth before I left. So unless you’d jumped on the next ship out, there was no way that could have happened to Jack at the age of twelve.”_

I was completely confused by this and had to ask, _“You knew? You knew she was not me?”_ With a tilt of his head, he said, _“Let’s just say I had my doubts. That I was starting to think she could be Jack when she made that ‘I know that look’ comment.”_ As I looked him in the eye I could tell he wanted me to believe him, to understand. He continued, _“When I came to in the hanger, she was gone and the Purifier was there. I realized that I didn’t care if she was Jack or not; she was in trouble because of me and I had to help her. I went after her and I had to fight for my life as well as hers. She had said what the Necros wanted to hear, she walked away when I asked if she was with me. Much later, I realized that she had answered by walking towards me; my focus was on her walking past me and into the chaos of the crowd. She speared him in the sweet spot and he returned the favor. She lay on the steps to the throne and Vaako took advantage and tried to kill Zhylaw, but his soul ran for the spear and I met him there with the Purifier’s knife. After I broke the blade off in his skull I went to Kyra and asked her again if she was with me and she said, ‘I was always with you Riddick, I was!’ So if she was Jack, she had broken another promise!”_ With tears in my eyes for my cousin’s death I whispered, _“Not to die for you.”_ I closed my eyes against the prickling sensation and was overwhelmed by exhaustion. I jerked upright and tried to stifle the massive yawn that I couldn’t suppress.

     As I was about to apologize for the rudeness, Riddick jokingly asked, _“How_ long’ve _you gone without sleep?”_ Looking up I saw the smile and the raised eyebrow and I thought he was laughing at me. _“When did the Necros’ invasion of New Mecca hit the tube?”_ That sobered him, narrowing his eyes he asked, _“Little or No Sleep?”_ covering another huge yawn I said, _“Very little… and none for the last twenty-eight hours.”_ I felt myself sag forward as my heavy lids closed. Jerked upright and forced my eyes open wide. Riddick rose in one fluid motion, I blinked and he was standing next to my chair with a hand out waiting for me to accept his help to rise. I took his offer and smiled a little as I stood and walked with him down the hall. I realized we were walking to his bedroom as his scent grew stronger as we moved down the hall. As I sniffed to take in his scent, my eyes closed and I was too tired to open them. Felt myself stumble and must have dozed off, opened my eyes to find he had lifted me into his arms and was now carrying me to bed. Again I felt my eyes close and when I opened them it was to see he was going to lay me down on his bed, my eyelids were too heavy to keep them open. Heard him say softly, _“Rest now Jack, you’re safe here, --”_ I’m not sure if the kiss he gave me on the lips was a dream or if it was real. Either way I know that he pulled away when I opened my mouth to invite a deeper kiss.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	6. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack dreams of the good things in her past. Dame Vaako gets on Jack's nerves.

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**This is My Life.**

**Chapter 6**

_**Dreams** _

     For the first time in many months, I was able to sleep without my dreams changing into nightmares. Surrounded by Riddick’s scent I felt safe. **_[The dream began with my parents and me on a picnic in a park spending time with other families playing and eating. The child (me) was so happy! ]_** _The dream shifted:_ ** _[I was sitting at a table with the Imam and Riddick; we were eating and making plans for our next stop on the way to New Mecca. The preteen (me) was so excited!]_** _The dream shifted:_ ** _[My family was sitting at the table having dinner and talking about our day. The teenager (me) was happy, but missed Riddick.]_** _The dream shifted again:_ ** _[I am at the boarding school eating dinner with a tableful of friends. I am happy but miss my family and Riddick.]_** I have had so many happy moments in my life. _The dream shifted: **[I see myself sparing with Riddick, he says I have to use my speed because I don’t have the strength to go up against most men. Soon he had me working out to increase my speed and strength.]** The dream shifted: **[I’m giving treats to dogs on my way to school and working with dogs at the shelter.]** The dream shifted again: **[I’m in the wolves’ run on New Mecca, running with the wolves.]** The dream shifted once more: **[I’m running with Goliath at the edge of campus.]**_ I realize that I have watched my alpha take shape and grow.

     I am ecstatic my smile is wide and my face kind of hurts from it. I open my eyes and see that I am in a dark room. Riddick’s lingering scent keeps me calm but I cannot see anything. I call out softly, _“Riddick?”_ I sense no movement nor do I see his eyes, so I say, _“Uh- Lights on.”_ Nothing happens, _“Illuminate?”_ I say; it’s still dark. _“Damn!”_ I say as I get angry. _“Where’s the bathroom?”_ at my words I hear a door slide open to my right, I turn that way and say tentatively, _“Bathroom lights 50%.”_ Not expecting anything to happen, I’m surprised to see the sudden illumination spilling into the bedroom from the bathroom. Crawling across the bed I walk barefoot to the bathroom and take care of my bladder. After washing up I say, _“Keep the door open; lights maximum.”_ Now with the light from the bathroom, I can see Riddick’s bedroom. As I explore I find a closet full of brand new Men’s clothes; none of which look like clothes Riddick would wear. Next, I find a walk-in closet that is empty. Most of the dresser drawers are empty. I find some Muscle tanks and shirts in one drawer, socks in another, and briefs that have not been touched by Riddick’s scent in a third. Shutting the drawer, I feel the heat rise in my face. As I walked toward the bed I see a door; found that though I could not see any locking mechanism I could not open it. Behind the door, I faintly detected my scent, so I assumed my things had been brought from my little ship. I wanted to shower and was glad for a moment that my things were here; now in frustration, I went to the dresser and grabbed a gray t-shirt that would match Riddick’s eyes.

     Walking into the bathroom I realize there is a tub but don’t see a showerhead. Looking in a cabinet I find it empty, no soap, shampoo or conditioner. Makes me wonder where his women bathe. Strangely the thought doesn’t make me jealous; I have to think for a while to realize it’s because I’m here now and those days are over for him. Or they will be if I can just convince Riddick… Running a bath I figure at least I could soak in the water and try to relax. Sinking into the tub I let my thoughts drift and they are soon centered on Riddick. That was how I went from relaxed to tension in 40 seconds or less. I was frozen, listening for any one’s approach; after a few moments with no one storming in I started to relax again and then I sank down into the water to wet my hair. In frustration, I asked aloud of no one, _“Damn, where’s his soap?”_ to my surprise a dispenser comes out of the wall and a voice says, _“Please specify preferred scent.”_ I got an idea and said, _“I need a washcloth.”_ Another tile slid aside and a cloth appeared on a hook. Taking the washcloth I said, _“Sandalwood and soft musk.”_ Then I got another idea and said, _“Drain the tub and start the shower.”_ The orders were followed and I got to work on washing up, called for shampoo and conditioner and called for the shower to turn off. A towel was within reach I dried off quickly and went to get my under things only to find that the dirty clothes were gone. I grabbed the shirt and put it on, then thought about grabbing a pair of his briefs but decided I’d feel awkward and trying to hold them up I’d just look stupid. Felt embarrassed enough that I had to go to dinner in nothing but a shirt! I was looking at my reflection in the mirror making sure the shirt did not ride up too much if I lifted my arms. As I lowered my arms the door suddenly opened and I turned to see who was entering the room. Riddick stood in the doorway and I looked him up and down without hesitation. Riddick had stopped in his tracks and stared at me then he seemed to force his head to the side and he asks, _“Why are you standing in the dark?”_ Feeling embarrassed for standing in nothing but a t-shirt I answered, _“Lights, Maximum.”_ He began to raise his hand to shield his eyes but stopped as he became aware nothing happened. With a small nod, he said, _“I’ll let you control the lights and locks in this room, Jack.”_ Smiling at the words I said, _“Okay, lights 40%.”_ The bathroom lights dimmed and the room lights came up. He gave me a one-sided smile, I took it as thanks for not blinding him with the lights. He lifted the hand holding the folded clothes and said, _“Brought you something to wear to dinner.”_ Taking the clothes I say, _“Thanks.”_ He stared at me till I looked up and then said, _“I’ll be ready in 5.”_ He walked to the bathroom and I heard the shower start as the door slid closed. I opened up the folded material to find a dress and undergarments, I put on the bra to find it was loose and the cup was too small; the underwear was a better fit. Slipped into the dress and saw the bra was bunching and ruining the elegant look, so I took it off and dropped it on the floor. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I realize there was a brush on the makeup table I had noticed earlier. I ran it through my damp hair and found some hair accessories. Brushed my hair over my right shoulder and pinned it in place.

     Riddick walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and I realized I was barefoot; Riddick had not brought me shoes for the dress and my boots were nowhere to be found. Heard him pull something on hoped it was pants, turned my head a little and saw he had indeed pulled on pants and was drying his upper body. Asked him, _“No shoes?”_ as I stood and held the hem up to show I was barefoot. With a half shrug, he said, _“Forgot the bots would pick up your boots, I’ll have your stuff put in the closet. Don’t think it will matter much if you come to dinner with bare feet.”_ Looking at him I gave a deep sigh and said, _“Okay, if I must!”_ He shook his head and said, _“No one’s making you come to dinner, don’t eat if you aren’t hungry.”_ I had to laugh. _“Wow is that a change, or what?”_ I asked rhetorically. He looked at me and I said, _“Seems like yesterday you’d tell me ‘come eat, now!’”_ Looking at me he said with a straight face, _“You were still growing back then. You’re an adult now, make your own decisions.”_ Riddick sat on the bed to pull on his boots and I said, _“One good meal is not going to keep my strength up so I’d better have dinner.”_ He stood and strode to the door opening it and waving me ahead of him. Smiling I walked out, as I felt the cold floor I lifted up onto the balls of my feet to have minimal contact with the floor. We entered the dining room where I discovered we had guests. Ziza and Lajjun were waiting there, but so was commander Vaako and his wife. Riddick pulled out my chair and we sat down. I had a nice dinner with a little conversation and spoke to the Vaakos only to be introduced to them by name and some small talk. Ziza started to get up and I knew she’d be in my lap if I let her; I held up a finger and motioned with it to Riddick. She turned to him and asked in a small voice, _“Uncle Riddick, May I please sit with Jackie?”_ At his nod, she bolted around him to avoid the Vaakos and rushed to my side. Smiling I moved the chair back a bit and pulled her up on my lap she turned so her back was to Riddick. We ate from my plate and it only occurred to me later that we had not prayed. Soon dinner was done and we were in the sitting area closest to the dining room. Lajjun and Ziza were involved in small talk with Bianca Vaako while Riddick and I were talking with the commander whom I found out was named Siberius. Vaako asked if I was happy to have found ‘my family’, I could hear some skepticism in his voice and I said, _“Oh I guess I should have said ‘foster family’, it’s just that I was always treated as their daughter that I think of them as my family -- period.”_ Vaako visibly bristled at Riddick’s soft chuckle. _“I see.”_ Was all Vaako could say, but I felt he was not through with me. He did not come across as a guy that would let a slight to his intellect go without at least trying to return the favor. As the evening went on I was getting more and more upset by Bianca Vaako’s way of talking down to both Ziza and Lajjun. I suddenly asked Lajjun if it wasn’t time for Ziza to go to bed. She quickly agreed and Ziza insisted on hugs from Riddick and me before she would leave. After they were gone, I talked with Bianca and asked if she had ever babysat children or been around them since the time she was a child herself. She admitted she had not and said she really did not understand the fascination the Lord Marshal had for this child. I gave her a false smile and said, _“Oh I suspect he took an interest in her because she was my foster father’s daughter. After all, we were all friends at one time.”_ The smile she gave me was predatory; I felt my animal respond and had to rein it in, _“Really, when was that?”_ She asked sweetly. I knew that sort of manipulation. I answered in the same tone, _“Oh, it seems like only yesterday.”_ She narrowed her eyes and opened them up quickly. _“How old were you, my dear; for him to impress you so?”_ Looking at him and then at her I winked and said, _“Look at him; he impresses anyone that sees him. Age has nothing to do with it.”_ She tried again, _“Surely if he was your protector, you must have been a child in need of protection?”_ Giving her a smirk I said, _“Oh sorry, I was under the impression your lot didn’t care about children?”_

     We then conversed about how to handle the stressed out Necromonger. She mentioned how most wives just play the submissive role and let the man dictate everything; she went on to say that a true leader needs a strong woman by his side to help him be the best leader he can be. She told me if I had any influence over the Lord Marshal that I needed to convince him to become a true Necromonger and take the sacred oath, failing that… at my questioning look, she said, _“Well it would not be good to be his pet if you understand my meaning?”_ I looked at her blankly, but it was very hard not to say or do something as I wanted to wipe the smile off of her face. Riddick must have caught the anger I was hiding; he turned around and mouthed one word, yawn. Pretending to yawn once, suddenly led to another; this one real and bigger than the first. _“Excuse me. I have not been sleeping well.”_ I gave a small smile, as both the Vaakos yawned and Riddick said it was time to say goodnight; we walked them to the door. We said our goodnights and then Riddick shut the door. Without a word, he turned me around and escorted me to the bedroom. As I sat at the makeup table to remove the pins and clips from my hair I saw him rummage in a drawer and walk to the bathroom. While he was showering I went to the closet and detected my scent, opening it I see my clothes and a whole lot of Necromonger dresses along with a few nightgowns. I closed the door and grabbed the shirt I had dropped on the chair earlier which was now folded, but still there. Dropping the dress where I stood, I slipped into his t-shirt. The bed had been repositioned and so I took my old place near the wall and left the area closest to the door for Riddick. After another ten minutes or so he finally walked into the room and lay down. I had not realized I was tense until he was in the bed and I was suddenly relaxed. He pulled me close and said softly, _“Get some sleep.”_ Smiling I closed my eyes and was soon fast asleep. I was safe and comfortable, how was I to know that by draping myself across his body I had just erased the work he had done in the shower to allow him to sleep in the same bed.

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	7. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack thinks Riddick has been with someone and has come to bed after. She's upset with him, but she is upset with herself too...maybe that is why she has nightmares?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: this chapter contains rape/ non-consensual sex of a child by minors.

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**This is My Life.**

Chapter 7

_Nightmares_

     Days mostly consisted of talking with my family and learning about the Necromongers to find a way to help Riddick change their course. Maybe he could get them to go to their Threshold without any more destruction. Make them see that the other planets in this Verse did not deserve to be taken into the next one or something. Never would have cared about any of this crap if not for my family. When Riddick made his decision to spare Hellion Prime I felt this need to foster his compassion and save others, too. Riddick told me to be good when he had left; he also said to get others to be good too! I didn’t want him to become some Necromonger ass out to rule this Verse or the next. So when I got the chance to ask about all the Necro-crap he was hiding from me he said he was not hiding anything from me, told me I was being paranoid, that he would answer any questions I had. Made him regret that real fast! I had not meant to do that, I simply wanted to know what he was doing.

      _“You’ll answer all my questions?”_ At his nod, I took a deep breath and asked, _“What are your plans for the near future where the Necros are concerned?”_ He looked at me and said softly, _“Who says I got plans?”_ I narrowed my eyes and continued, _“Fine, what is the religion all about?”_ Looking me in the eyes he said, _“Don’t know! Don’t care!”_ My jaw dropped and I looked at him, with an exasperated sigh I continued, _“Do you have advisors… someone that tells you what should be happening?”_ His eyes narrowed and he said, _“Got Vaako.”_ Getting angry I asked, _“Doesn’t he want your position?”_ He nodded and said, _“Yeah, so?”_ _“Have you lost your mind? Why would you ever trust him?!”_ I said as I shot to my feet and began pacing in front of him. _“Wasn’t it you that told me ‘never trust someone that wants what you have’? Was that all just for the stupid kid I was then? Why is Vaako the exception?”_

     Riddick chuckled and grabbed my wrist, pulling me down to the couch he sat on, he said softly, _“Vaako is an honest man, he’s fair and he wants what’s best for the Necros so I have no reason to doubt his advice. Besides, all the advisers that Zhylaw had were not so much advisors as concubines.”_ My face flushed and I looked away but asked him another question. _“Can I learn about their Religion?”_ He growled and I felt his Alpha assert itself on me, like a pressure pushing on me. I opened my mouth to explain but he said, _“No!”_ I tried to sit up straighter, he said softly with steel in every word, _“Don’t want to hear it! No conversion!”_ My jaw dropped again and then I laughed, I could not help it. _“I don’t want to convert, just want an understanding. Maybe then I can tell you if Vaako is really helping you or himself.”_ I’d watched his eyes narrow at the first mention of Religion and watched as they relaxed as he thought about what I was saying. We sat in silence as he thought it over and he nodded as he made a decision. I waited and had to remind myself **_[Breath]_**.

     He said, _“Sure, you can learn about their religion, but if you convert your gonna answer to me.”_ Smiling I agreed and then asked him, _“Does that mean you’ll let me be your advisor?”_ I could not believe I had been so bold as to suggest that, especially as he told me about Zhylaw’s advisors. He removed his arm from my shoulders and said, _“Time for bed, go wash up and lay down… I’ll be there soon.”_ Something in his voice made me not question this or rebel as I realized he was telling me he needed some time. I wondered why but was not sure I would be okay with his answer. I went to the room and showered quickly, pulled on one of his shirts and brushed through my hair. It was nearly half an hour later when I decided to lay down and try to sleep. Time moves slowly when you are waiting for someone. I must have dozed off because I was startled awake when I heard the door open. Smelling his clean fresh scent for once had the opposite effect on me. He had showered since I’d left him in the seating room, and he had not used our shower. I had no right to be angry with him for having someone to scratch that itch for him. We might be sleeping together, but that was more a habit for him than any real need. He wanted to protect me from the Necros and the best way was to sleep with me in his arms. It wasn’t as if he wanted to bed me. What I wanted was irrelevant, not that I was sure I could -- even though I really wanted to. I had tried with one of my boyfriends at the boarding school, but I couldn’t go through with it. How could I expect Riddick to wait for me to be ready if I could not even tell him I wanted him? (Veiled suggestions aside.) I rolled over and tried to go to sleep; he knew I was awake right now, but maybe he would believe it was my fear of nightmares that made me wait for him to arrive before trying to sleep. He lay down behind me and rolled me back into his arms. For a moment I was stiff, but this was my spot and I was tired; soon fell asleep in his arms.

    **[I was playing with friends outside of my house, Mom had left to run some errands and I was to go to Greg’s house if the game ended. The older boys approached and asked if we wanted to see something really cool in the woods. Of course, we wanted to, we were kids and the woods were off limits without an older kid or an adult. The two older boys told the youngest kids to go home, and then they led me and my friends into the woods. We ranged in age from about 9 to 12 years old. The older boys were like 13 and 14. We were taken into a clearing where three other boys were waiting. The oldest one was 15 and he was a bully. The other two were definitely followers. We were soon surrounded by the gang. The oldest boy began to question me about being a girl wearing boy’s clothes. Taunting me he said, _“If you’re a girl, why do you wear boy’s clothes? What are you?”_ When I did not answer he continued, _“You a carpet muncher?”_ I had never heard that reference before, I had no clue what he meant at the time, the other boys all looked as confused as I was, but one of his boys laughed and the others chuckled. **

**Then he sent two of his boys back with my friends and told them he knew where they lived and if they did not want him to hurt them or their moms, they all better keep quiet about this. The boys left and he was asking me if I was going to tell. He said he and his boys would pay us a visit one night and I’d be lucky to not be an orphan when they were through. I was afraid, but not of him hurting my parents. I feared they would defend themselves, not realizing they were teens and not Mercs. Then they would go to jail and I would be a foster kid. He asked why I dressed like a boy and I gave the same answer I gave the school. He chuckled and said, _“Yeah right.”_ Then the two boys he had sent to take my friends back had got back. Smiling he motioned and the others started closing in and though I tried to keep them from surrounding me I realized that I was too late. They moved closer and the bully asked, _“So are you gay? Do you want to lick pussy? Maybe you want yours licked?”_ His boys laughed and I feared that I couldn’t get out of this situation. Then he said, _“You’re a girl and girls should wear girl clothes.”_ I shifted my weight to avoid him and moved into one of the other boy’s hands, he grabbed my arms and the bully motioned for another boy to move in. He grabbed my shorts and pants-ed me. I yelled _“No!”_ as soon as he moved toward me and I tried to kick him, but another boy grabbed my leg. The bully leered and said, _“Well at least she wears girl’s panties._ _Maybe she just needs someone to show her how good it can be to be with a guy?”_** **Suddenly I flashed on a conversation my mom and a neighbor had months before, about an older girl that had been raped and killed. The lady had said she should have fought back and maybe she would still be alive and my mom said it was possible that might have been what got her killed. _“Sadly she did something and was killed so we may never know what she did or didn’t do, and just because one action might save your life in one situation it could also get you killed in another.”_ With that, my mom walked away and I realized she knew I was there and was telling me I must do whatever it took to survive.**

**Two boys were holding onto my legs and two held my arms now; there was not a lot I could do and I was afraid that this bully was going to beat me. He took that fear away and quickly replaced it with another. _“Maybe she just needs to see how good it is to be with a guy?”_ I began to struggle, so he yelled at the guys to lay me down. _“Hold her damn it! You’re gonna like this! It feels good after a while.”_ Next thing I knew he was laying on me and my underwear was gone, I could feel he was hard and having trouble finding my opening. I could not do anything though I struggled against the boys holding me down. Freed one leg and tried to knee him in the groin. This angered the bully so he got up on his elbow and backhanded me across the face. _“Fucking shit! If you do that again I will beat your ass! – Hold her, you fucking idiots!”_ He shoved inside me and I whimpered, tears streaming down my face. He pushed in and pulled back a dozen times more or less and then he got off of me and told one of the other boys to take a turn, he undid his belt and I begged and pleaded with him to not do this, but he was a follower and his leader had given him orders. He took his turn and it took him a while to reach his climax. He then took another’s spot and he was told to take a turn, he seemed reluctant yet he too took a turn at me, and his thrust went deeper inside me than the first two guys had. **

**I was mortified to find that his movements had aroused my traitorous body. I came right after he did and there were still two boys left. The fourth one was between my legs and ignoring me. I was shaking my head and begging them to stop, to let me go, promising not to tell anyone. He was inside me and thrusting at an inconstant pace, fast and then slow and then one fast and two slow thrusts. I was no longer afraid of these boys; they were already doing their worst. Now I feared my parents would find out and go after them. My mom once told me that if anyone ever hurt me, my dad would take it out of their hide and he would not be satisfied with a pound of flesh. I had not understood her meaning when she said it, and now with the fourth boy getting off of me; I only had a general idea of what she might mean. It was the last boy’s turn; he was the youngest and reluctant to do this. Somehow I knew he had less of a choice then I did and a part of me felt sorry for him. He was only going to pretend to penetrate when the leader switched place with one of the boys holding my leg, He was seriously going to be sure the twelve-year-old boy participated fully. I closed my eyes so he would not have to look into them, but I could not stop the tears from running down my cheeks or the snot from running. The boy kept whispering _“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Never should have come. I didn’t know, I’m so sorry!"_ Surprisingly this was helping him keep a better rhythm than any of the guys before him. I came again and that allowed him to let go and cum as well. I thought that was it and as the boy went to get off me the bully pushed him aside and I saw he was hard. I yanked my legs together and yelled, _“No!”_ The boys holding my legs pulled them apart. My body was tired, my center was sore and I just wanted it to be over. No such luck, he was shoving into me and grunting as I lay there crying silently, tears streaming down my face.]**

     Riddick was shaking me, trying to wake me from my nightmare. Everything else he tried had not worked. I think it was his rapid heartbeat that had finally penetrated my nightmare and woke me. Heard his sigh and felt his pulse returning to normal. He pulled me close and said, _“Talk.”_ I had grabbed him as I woke and was holding on to him as though he might disappear if I let go. With a squeeze to let me know he was there and not going anywhere, he moved the pillows and sat up in bed, pulling me onto his lap and kissing my forehead. I shook my head when Riddick nudged me to get me to start my story.

_“This wasn’t the monsters we fought.”_ He stated, still shaking I lowered my head. _“Not letting this slide, Jack. Tell me - now!”_ What choice did I have? None, not if I wanted Riddick to trust me. I must trust him with my most intimate secret, the only one I never told to another living soul. Would he ever see me as the innocent kid he took me for after this? Taking a deep breath I gave a slight nod to let him know I would tell him; I could not look at him and so I lay my head on his shoulder and pulled the sheet over my shoulder.

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	8. Intimate Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack tells Riddick her secret... shame and fear that he'll see her as the disgusting thing she herself feels she is, makes her shake in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: this chapter contains rape/ non-consensual sex of a child by minors.  
> The retelling of the incident sparking the nightmare.

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**This is My Life.**

_**Chapter 8** _

**_Intimate Secret_ **

    I took another deep breath. _“A-a f-few w-weeks a-after m-my…”_ I swallowed thickly and continued a bit calmer as he squeezed my shoulder, _“my eleventh birthday, I was playing outside with the neighborhood boys. My mom had to run some errands and said I could continue to play if the kids went inside before she got back I was to go over to Greg’s house. We were getting tired of the game and it had been the third or fourth switch so we all jumped at the chance to go into the woods with a couple of older boys that said they wanted to show us something cool. I knew better than to go with anyone, but there was only two of them and around six of us. We went into the woods because it was a place that was off limits without an older kid or an adult. They took us down a winding path that was barely visible to me and so I knew the other boys would not be able to find it again, and would not be able to find their way out without me. They led us to a clearing where there were three other guys and the oldest one was a known bully.”_

     I cleared my throat and Riddick handed me his glass of water off of the nightstand, I took a drink and continued. _“They had heard I was a girl named Jack and that I dressed like a boy. They wanted to find out if it was true, so the leader asked if I was really a girl. I answered truthfully and when he asked why I explained about the fear my parents had that someone would try to kidnap me if I looked like a girl, so until I could do self-defense right I had to pretend I was a boy when we lived on planets that don’t allow girls to learn to fight. He did not believe me and instead said I was gay. He began taunting me, asking if I liked munching carpets, I had not heard that phrase and did not know what he meant, neither did any of my friends. The bully looked us over and made up his mind about something. Then he threatened my friends and told them his gang would hurt their moms if they told anyone about what happened; I knew he believed what he said. Then two of his guys took the kids back to the edge of the woods and later I heard they threatened to hurt me if they told their parents. So I was left to try to talk them out of what I suddenly knew was going to happen. – I thought of a conversation my mom had with a neighbor about a news story they had just seen, this was a while back.… The lady said it was a shame the 16-year-old girl had not fought harder or fought back when she was still within sight of people; mom said that it could have been her fighting back that_ _got her killed. She said it might also be she let the man have his way and he killed her to keep her from telling anyone about it. **“Sad thing is she did something that got her killed and so we will never know what that was, the bottom line is we need to always be assessing and figure out what to do to stay alive.”** I then realized she knew I was there and was_ _telling me that if I ever found myself in a situation like that to do whatever it took to survive.”_ Took a deep breath and let it out slow.

      _“I was trying to talk to them and make them see me as a person, a friend and hopefully that would stop them from hurting me. The two guys that walked the boys back to our street had come back. I was still talking to the main guy and didn’t think to keep an eye on the others until one of the boys suddenly moved to a position behind me. I then tried to keep the others in my sight, but it was too late I was surrounded. I had not learned to fight multiple opponents; I had to try to take them one at a time. He said to his guys, **“You know, maybe she doesn’t know how good it feels to be with a guy? Maybe we should show her, and then she’ll start acting and dressing like a girl!”** I tried to stop them, as the guy on my right moved toward me I kicked him in the leg. The guy to my right took a step back, but the guy behind me grabbed my arms pinning them to my side. Then the leader told them to pants me, the guy I had kicked did so after the guy to my left grabbed my legs to stop me from kicking. _

_The Bully suddenly got this huge grin on his face and he said, **“Well look at this, at least she wears girl’s panties. That’s a start!”** He licked his lips and leered at me. He said, **“Lay her down.”** I began to struggle lashing out with fist and foot. That was when he yelled at the guys, **“Hold her!”** and all four of his flunkies grabbed a limb. I kept saying, **“No, don’t do this; you can stop right now. I won’t tell anybody, I swear.”** Nothing I said mattered, he stood above me and slowly undid his pants and I closed my eyes. I began to cry as he lay on top of me and he said to me, **“Just relax, you’ll like it, you’ll see it feels real good."** Then his hand was pulling down my underwear and I pulled a leg free, tried to knee him and he moved up onto an elbow; he backhanded me with a fist, then he was on me and shoving inside me._ _I screamed and he tried to smother it by shoving his tongue down my throat, I bit him and he yelled, hit me again. Told me he would beat me if I did anything else, I was dizzy and it had accomplished nothing. He continued and was done fairly quickly; he got off and pulled up his pants then took hold of the arm his second was holding. I was telling the second guy that he didn’t have to do this, but he just ignored me. To my utter disgust, he grabbed my butt with both hands and was pushing inside me. I realized that yelling and screaming were not helping me at all, he finished almost as fast as the leader and then it was another guy’s turn. My body suddenly thrust up to meet his downward one **“No, no, no!”** in denial of the pleasure and wanting him to stop as much as I wanted him to keep going. I forced myself to lay still and fought the feelings my traitorous body was feeling. I came right after he did and I was mortified. ”_ swallowing hard, I turned my head away from Riddick. He wrapped me in his arms and gently squeezed. We sat for a few moments in silence. 

      _"_ _He grabbed my leg and the fourth guy was on me, he was clumsy and awkward took forever, much longer than the first two. The last guy was the youngest the twelve years old; he did not want to do this. The leader told him he had to or they would beat him and so he too lay on me and went through the motions, he kept apologizing and that gave him a steady rhythm, we both came. When he was finally done, I thought it was all over and then felt a guy give my arm to the other guy as he moved to get my leg. The young guy had barely stood up when the leader pushed him out of the way and shoved inside me again as I again screamed: **“No, please!”** Then shaking my head, I started saying, **“Please, no more!”** and **“Stop!”** He lifted my shirt and began to suck on my small breasts._ _He then grabbed my face and forced me to look at him as his speed increased, when he was done he got up off of me and I closed my eyes._

_The others began to move away as the leader threw a towel at me, I wiped my face and he motioned lower, so I wiped myself as he told me,_ **_“No one will believe you if you tell, but we will visit your house one night and beat your parents… if we don’t kill them instead.”_ **_As he spoke I envisioned a different scenario, they would show up and my parents would think it was Mercs, they would defend us as if the people outside or breaking in wanted to kill us and they would kill a few of them before they realized they were punks and then they would get arrested or be wanted fugitives. If they were caught I would go to foster care. So I just nodded at him when he asked me if I understood. I decided I could not tell my parents about it as I realized my dad would want to find them and beat them himself if I told them. I was not sure if my mom would stop him either._ _Two of the guys walked me to the edge of the woods, reminding me they would pay my parents a late night visit if I didn’t keep my mouth shut. I nodded and walked out onto my empty street I looked up as I got close to home because I was afraid I was going to have to try to get past my mom to get to the shower. To my relief, she was not home yet._

      _I showered in the hottest water I could stand and scrubbed my skin raw. Then I went to my room and packed an overnight bag because I realized I needed to take some time to compose myself, I thought I’d never be able to stay quiet if I was home. I called all the kids from the block to see if I could spend the night at their house and everyone said, **“Sorry, my mom says no, not tonight.”** My last hope was Jeffery and he was the farthest away. To my relief, he said, **“My mom says yeah, do you need a ride?”** I said, **“No, I‘ll be over in a little bit okay?”** I then wrote my mom a note to let her know I was going to spend the night at Jeff’s if that was okay? Told her I had my overnight bag but would come home if she wanted me too. She was not happy when she got home and found that note. She called Jeff’s mom and spoke to her for a long time, then told me she was fine with letting me stay the night, but when I got home I was busted. I was cool with that I was really quiet and withdrawn all night, could not fall asleep either. I was afraid I might have nightmares and fight when someone came to wake me. So I was tired next day when my mom picked me up, she figured I was tired due to trying to stay up with my friend. A few weeks past, I was going around trying to keep from my parents’ scrutiny for as long as possible. They noticed my withdrawal and wondered at it, soon I was taken to a therapist and she told them I was confused by the name and clothing I wore and that perhaps they should begin to call me by my real name so that I could develop into a secure young woman. I was actually angrier at her for that conclusion when I wanted nothing to do with being female after being raped, but I would not talk to her so she could not know that. _

_I would not let my dad or mom take my clothes nor would I answer if they called me anything but Jack. Mom asked me in frustration after the third frilly dress was rejected, **“What is it, what do you want? Talk to me, Au-”** I screamed at her, cutting her off from calling me by my first name. **“Jack! My Name Is Jack!! Stop trying to change me! I ‘m fine, I don’t want to dress like that! I know who and what I am! Just stop trying to make me into a–a Lindsey Doll!!!”** I threw an empty bottle of wine at the wall; I had collected it for the pretty blue glass. It shattered and I ran out of the house, but mom caught me before anyone saw how fast I was moving. I cried in her arms as she carried me inside. She and dad decided the therapist didn’t know anything and so went back to calling me Jack and we returned to a more or less normal state. They never brought up my strange behavior again. As for my friends we pretended nothing ever happened and never talked about it. The only thing that really changed was I asked my dad to teach me to fight more than one attacker, but he figured that we had heard about a guy that had been robbed by two punks. Mom did not object when a woman was robbed by the same two guys a few days after the first one. I kept close to any adults whenever one of the group came near, but they were avoiding me more actively than I was avoiding them. _

_A few months later mom started worrying that we were being watched and soon we were getting our go bags … You know what happened in the marketplace…”_

     Riddick held me on his lap, he’d been rubbing my back when I began to cry at the harder parts of my story. He hugged me when I trailed off and kissed my temple. He then laid me on the bed and pulling me to his side he turned off the lights and whispered, _“Sleep now. You’re safe.”_

     I did sleep, safe in his arms.

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	9. Special Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riddick learns of Jack's special bond with Ziza.

Chronicles of Jack:

This is My Life.

Chapter 9

Special Bond

     We slept soundly each night for the next few days and then I heard a beeping and cracking an eye, I watched as Riddick answered softly, _“What is it?”_ as I felt him rise and head for the door. I rose onto my elbow and at the movement, he looked back at me and mouthed – _“Go back to sleep.”_ I smiled and lay down, but sleep eluded me. I could not relax or keep my eyes closed, suddenly I realized why and I grabbed my robe and rushed out the door. Riddick was walking into the living room with someone talking softly, he turned and saw me in the hall as I tied the robe shut and turned toward the dining room. I moved swiftly toward the far door and was in the hall on the other side when a pressure on my heart seemed to intensify. I heard the gasp of a young girl, as I left the dining room and a second one a moment later.

     Turning away from Lajjun’s room I rush into a room I’ve never been in and I’m on the bed before Ziza’s nightmare can make her scream. Speaking softly I tell her, _“I’m here, you’re safe. We are with Riddick and Mom, everything is fine. Calm down love, I’m here.”_ I can feel her heart race under my hand as I splay it on her heaving chest, the sound loud in my ears. She turns to me and takes a deep breath, letting it out she relaxes as her nightmare abates into pleasant dreams. Looking at the door I had left wide open to find my way in the darkened room, I see Riddick is standing in the doorway and my bodyguard is not far behind him in the hall. Smiling at him I give a small shrug. He whispers, _“Do you need to stay?”_ I shook my head and answered, _“I could leave something with my scent for her. That usually works.”_

     Riddick smiled and asked, _“Will you have breakfast with me?”_ With an answering smile, I nodded and stood. Slipping out of my robe I put it on Ziza like a blanket and she pulled it up to her nose, breathing in my scent. Turning, I walked toward the door and Riddick’s inviting hand. The door slid closed quietly and we walked back the way we had come. I could smell a faint acrid scent of fear that was my own scent as I had rushed to my Ziza. He said softly, _“How did you know, Jack? I didn’t hear her scream, didn’t smell her fear until you opened the door either.”_ With a slight shrug, I said, _“I don’t know how I know, I just get this feeling. Ever since she was born, if she is afraid or in pain… I just know and I go to her.”_ We walked into the dining room and he steered me to my seat. Putting some pancakes on a plate with eggs, hash browns, sausage, and bacon he set the plate in front of me and put two pancakes eggs, bacon and sausage onto his own plate.

_“How close do you have to be?”_ he asked as he began to eat. I chewed my food and swallowed before answering, _“Don’t really know, but I called mom from school one day to tell her Ziza was having a nightmare during her nap. That was five miles. I could not feel her when I was taken by the Mercs and when father took me to the boarding school I did not know how upset she was, did not know when she fell off the merry-go-round, either… In fact, it had been so long, that I didn’t realize why I felt so restless just now. Suddenly it dawned on me, and I rushed to her.”_ We ate in silence for a while and then he asked, _“I don’t get how you could be so connected, you don’t share blood,” he paused “do you?”_

     Stopping my fork halfway to my mouth I said, _“No, but I think she has some power of her own, when she was born she started crying right away and would not stop. The doctor and nurses could not get her to stop, Lajjun and Abu tried to get her to eat but she would not take breast or bottle. Then he put her in my arms when I asked what her name was. Lajjun said they named her Ziza and I sat down and said softly, ‘Enough Ziza, it’s time to eat and then we’ll sing you a song.’ Just like that, she opened her eyes looked at me and blinked a few times. I gave her to Lajjun so she could feed the baby and we sang lullabies until she slept. From the moment our eyes met, I wanted nothing more than to protect her and keep her safe. I have seen total strangers she walks up to; go out of their way to make her feel safe and happy after looking into her eyes and no type of glasses, goggles or contact lenses seem to prevent it.”_

_“Is that why I had to bring them? She used some power on me?”_ Riddick asked in an even tone, someone else would have taken it for curiosity. I felt his anger and had to explain quickly. _“No, she doesn’t use it at all. It just is! No different than your eyes. You cannot turn the eye-shine off any more than she can stop the feelings one feels when they look into her eyes.”_ His posture was not as rigid as it had been a moment before. _“The difference is… she doesn’t know she has this power, you paid for your shine-job.”_ He snorted softly, then at my curious look he said, _“Not according to Shirah, she said it was a gift… a talent my race had. When she spoke to me, I thought it was the pain talking.”_ He gave a non-committal shrug of one shoulder like it did not matter in the least.

     Looking at him I thought about the dream I had one night at the boarding school when that woman Shirah came to me and told me in a dream that Riddick was not for me. _**{‘You are meant for other things. You are not the one to bring him to his destiny.’**_ **Shirah said to me as she showed me a life of pain and suffering for Riddick. With a wave of her hand, I was now looking at Lajjun and a grown woman that reminded me of the Imam and little, dark haired, brown eyed children.** _ **}**_ I dropped my eyes and forced my mind to the last dream I had where _**{**_ **Shirah called to me and told me that I had become a person worthy to be the mother of Riddick’s children and then she showed me a large group of children ranging in ages from 0 – 10 years old. _}_** Before I found him I had a vision of her where she told me that I would bare him, ten children, to help restart our noble Furyan race; _if _ he accepted me as a mate.

     Tears sprang to my eyes and I tried to blink them away quickly before he saw, futile though it was. He reached over and brushed a thumb under my right eye and brought his wet thumb to his lips. I swallowed hard as he licked the moisture from his thumb. I knew he could hear that my heart rate had increased. I turned to my plate and concentrated on that to calm myself and only when he asked me about Ziza was I able to look at him again.

     Ziza, the name conjured a vision of a baby I watched grow for years, first right in front of me then on a vid-screen. Longing for the lost years was radiating from me; I had to clear my throat to speak. _“She is my pride and joy… I know she is not my child, but I helped raise her too. I told her stories about the man that saved her father and me from monsters and the lessons I learned at his side, I told her about the good and the bad I did to protect myself and the men I traveled with. The prayers the imam had me learn and his view on my actions and yours too. I wanted her to understand that life is not always black and white, that there are also shades of gray. She is her parents’ child-- she believes in the good in men, but she also knows that there are men more interested in material things and making creds any way they can. She will always weigh her options and will always do what she believes to be the right thing.”_

     With a nod of understanding, I saw he already knew this. Smiling at the realization I said softly, _“She does not look at the Necromongers, does she?”_ At his sharp look, I smiled and said, _“She thinks of them as bad people, she knows the things you did to protect us from the monsters and these are the monsters that took her father’s life, she does not want to think of them as people. So we use them to get wherever we are going and then we get away from them. To her, it is that simple.”_

      _“You know things aren’t that simple.”_ He stated at my nod he raised an eyebrow as if inviting me to continue. _“I know that things aren’t so simple, but you are their lord marshal now and so they do as you say. We wouldn’t be… safe… without your protection. Keeping us safe means you have to stay safe. If you are killed, the new lord marshal will do with us as he wants. That means I’ll die trying to protect my mother and sister and then they will die trying to stay together. Lajjun may even take her own life to keep them from touching her, especially if they have taken Ziza away or killed her first. I know what will happen if their plots succeed, so does Lajjun. I also know that you won’t go down easy. I know you will fight; you are a survivor you have been left for dead before. You’re still here, I wavered once in believing in you, never again. I’ve got your back, even if you don’t need me to have it.”_

     We ate our breakfast, talked of inconsequential things and soon he was off to his meetings and I spent the day with Ziza and Lajjun, we taught her prayers as well as reading, writing, and arithmetic. We painted pictures, Ziza of New Mecca of the past, Lajjun of her home-world, and I painted the planets I had good memories of. Surprisingly there were very few and most of those were with Riddick and the Imam.

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	10. Claiming My Pack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie meets the ladies for brunch, words are exchanged. The wives are all plotting... but are they dangerous?

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**This is My Life.**

**Chapter 10**

**_Claiming My Pack_ **

     Riddick asked if I would like to spend some time with the wives of his commanders. Feeling both flattered that he would give me the choice and weary that refusal would look bad for the Lord Marshal, I reluctantly agreed. Before we left his chambers, he said in a playful tone _“Remember our deal?”_

     Nodding I said, _“Yell if I get into trouble, any trouble!”_ in the most serious voice I could. At his lifted brow I smiled and stated, _“I really do remember everything you say.”_

     Riddick shook his head, I watched the corner of his mouth twitch as though he fought not to smile. Opening the door he offered his arm and escorted me out to the corridor where we met a team of guards. He told me these were my personal guards, I was not to go anywhere without them. Except for the toilet and even then if I needed him just yell, the guards would most likely beat him to my side, but he would come.

     He kissed my hand and left me to the six guards. We walked through the Basilica halls to a room full of many tables. There are a number of nicely dressed necros and I spot a group of women standing near a door at the back. We walk there and the lead guard sends in two of my entourage to check out the room. When it’s deemed clear we are allowed inside.

     One of the ladies whispers to another that the precautions would not be needed if the Lord Marshal’s concubine were not here. I felt the heat flood my face and that got me angry. So smiling sweetly all the while blushing I said softly to the ladies, _“I apologize for the inconvenience my presence has caused. I was told that the Lord Marshal has had to deal with assassination attempts. My association with the Lord Marshal puts me in danger of being used against him.”_ My smile became feral, _“Nothing new to me, it’s been tried before. It did not go well for them and that was without Riddick even knowing about it. We protect our pack!”_

     Dame Vacco came over to sit next to me and as we began to partake of the meal I stopped her from getting some pork roast, telling her it was undercooked, smiling she offered some to one of the ladies and then after she watched her eat it she called a waiter over and sent it back. The ladies began to talk about the campaign and the nobility's role in it. As I listened and learned, I noticed the clicks the ladies fell into.

     One group felt they needed to steer the Necro army to the threshold so that the Lord Marshal could become the Holy Half-dead as the Lord Marshal before him had. Another group was whispering about how best to get me out of the way so that one of them could grace the Lord Marshal’s bed and influence the leader of the Ghost Army. As I took in the ladies, I realized they were all scheming, all wanted something. Only Dame Vacco was even trying to find out how I could help her attain her goals. Someone asked in a stage whisper if the other ladies noticed the breeder was still unconverted.

     Dame Vacco addressed the lady directly saying, _“My dear, if you have a question for the lovely lady at my side, just ask.”_ Every eye was suddenly on the woman and me. The guards tensed as if they expected a physical reaction. The other ladies grinned, turning to get the best view. The woman realized that Dame Vaako was not plotting against me (or at least not at this moment) so there was no one to back her play. She tried to backpedal, saying, _“Oh, I was just wondering why the Consort has yet to convert. The purifiers have complained that she is reading sacred scrolls and still has not converted.”_

     Every female turned to me expectantly. I gave the smile that used to creep out my friends. I said, _“As I told Captain Ford when I arrived, I will not convert unless Lord Marshal Riddick tells me to. He has only allowed me to learn all I can about your religion. I have explained this to the purifiers, not one objected at the time.”_

     The rest of the ladies went back to what they were doing. So did I, eating my meal and listening to the conversations around me. These “ladies” were all scheming, manipulative creatures. Some groups wanted the same things but were not working together.

     To my surprise, the brunch lasted several hours. When it seemed to be wrapping up, a commotion outside caused my guards to surround me and escort me through the kitchens. Once out in the hall, I became aware that many of the higher ranking ladies had also exited with us. We had left two of my guards outside the banquet room so the formation was closed around me with the leader in front, one on either side and one right behind me.

     The ladies moved off to their own rooms or to carry on with their day. My guards took me straight to Riddick’s rooms. They were hyper-vigilant the whole way there. Before we had made the halfway point, the two guards we’d left behind had re-joined our group and the original formation was formed. I calmed a bit with the perceived added space. We were all relieved when we made it to the rooms. The main guard entered and did a quick sweep, Riddick walked up as I was given the okay to enter.

     He walked in before me and gave the old sign to stay close. I gave the usual vocal _“tck”_ to let him know I’d seen and would follow the instruction. The door closed, leaving the other guards outside. Riddick stood in front of the sofa I sat down on putting his body between me and the man. He looked at the main guard and with a growl in his voice asked, _“What happened?”_ Before either of us could answer the door slid open and revealed Commander Vacco standing still with his fist over his heart and head bowed. Riddick had moved to block me from the door, stopping me from using the throwing blade I’d pulled from my sleeve in the process. The guard had turned and aimed his weapon at the door, he relaxed his guard only when Riddick did.

     As Vacco came forward he kept his hands in sight and Riddick shot a quick look over his shoulder to which I frowned and deliberately took my time to sheath the blade. When the guard realized I was sheathing a blade he was shocked. Riddick smirked and moved to sit next to me and gave Vakko a nod to proceed. With an answering nod to his lord marshal and one to me, Vacco said, _“We have the three men in custody, they each had a bomb in large vases. It would have blown the banquet room completely. I believe two of them had no idea the vasas held bombs.”_

     Riddick had tensed and I knew he was going to personally question the three men. Also realized he would not let me see that session. Probably would not let me leave our chambers without him again. To be honest I didn’t mind that at all. Riddick put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side. We both relaxed, Riddick was finally calm enough to speak. _“The wives all okay?”_ He asked Vakko, who seemed taken aback by the question. _“Yes, Lord Marshal they all followed the guards escorting…“_ He trailed off as he did not know what to call me. When neither of us helped him out, he said, _“Miss al-Walid.”_

      _“Any of them involved?”_ Riddick looked at each of us in turn. The guard shook his head as did I, Vakko said, _“At this time, there is no indication of any involvement by the wives.”_ The room became eerily quiet and tense as we waited to see what Riddick would say or do next.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_


	11. Issues? More like  Subscriptions!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie has plenty of issues, she decides to get over one. No matter what it takes!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: for those that don't want to read smut, skip the next two chapters from {Damn It! Why couldn’t I get over this fear...} For those who want to, read on and enjoy!

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**_This is My Life._ **

**Chapter 11**

**_Issues? More like Subscriptions!_ **

     Life became routine for us, and I was becoming comfortable with our arrangement. Even on the days that Lady Vaako came to visit or invited me out to walk around were normal and uneventful. The assassination attempts did not stop, however. One attempt happened in our rooms, Lady Vaako invited herself in and sat to talk for about an hour. When I was done listening to her crap, I walked the lady to the door. Unfortunately for the assassin, Riddick liked to keep our rooms very cool. The venomous snake was curled up near the front door where the warmth of the hallway kept the door warmer than the rest of the room. Thinking quickly, I grabbed it behind its head, as it tried to strike Lady Vaako and held it tightly saying, _“I’m sorry, it seems that Zizza’s pet has escaped its tank. I’ll have to talk to her about that, please accept my apologies for the scare.”_

     As soon as she was out the door I called Riddick, got the commander instead. Asked him if Riddick had given Ziza a pet snake, when he said no I lifted the snake into view and said, _“Someone left this venomous beauty in our sitting room and I kept it from biting your wife.”_ He said he’d take care of the snake and Riddick would be with me directly. I interrupted with _“Send me a terrarium with a heat lamp and a live mouse.”_ Vakko looked uncertain but said, _“As you wish, Miss al-Walid.”_ I smiled at him as he signed off.

     Riddick rushed in, he was sweaty and panting hard. I had just dropped the live mouse into the terrarium with the snake. He looked perturbed, _“What the hell?”_ He says as he calms his breathing, _“Why is the snake still alive?”_ One heartbeat then he shakes his head, _“No! You are not keeping that!”_

_“Riddick think about it, people will hear I caught the snake and I’m keeping it as a pet. Who’s going to want to fuck with me if I can catch a striking snake?”_ I asked as I calmly closed the small opening in the wire lid on the terrarium. He looks to be hardening his heart to my logic when he says, _“Ziza could be hurt, you can’t keep it!”_

     I have anticipated his objections, Lajjun and Ziza come into the sitting room and I says to them, _“Mother, Ziza, I called you here to show you my new pet. It is a poisonous snake and is not to be played with.”_ As Lajjun looked at Riddick disapprovingly, I say, “ _It was not a gift from Riddick, Mother. It was left in this room to find one of us…”_ At the sudden understanding, she asked, _“How could this be?”_

_“Vaako’s checking on that for me,”_ Riddick said. In response to Lajjun’s skeptical look, I tell her, _“I caught it as it made to strike Lady Vaako, I’m sure the commander is going to do everything he can to get to the bottom of this.”_ Ziza asked what kind of serpent it was and I say, _“Why don’t we research that and then we can find out all about it?”_ So Riddick relented and allowed me to keep it.

     A few weeks later, Lady Vaako and a few of the other wives were having lunch with me in the Lord Marshal’s rooms. Riddick refused to allow me to leave our rooms without him. As we discussed the Necromonger goals and the best way to help our men achieve them. Lady Vaako had told me to call her Bianca. I did not feel that she had suddenly become a friend, but letting her give those backhanded compliments helped me to learn things about the lady and yes about Riddick too. Some of them were things I did not want to think about. Although those jabs hurt to hear, I was glad to learn about Riddick’s life as the ruler of the Ghost Army.

     One of Lady Vaako’s favorite topics was Kyra and Riddick’s grief at her death. She spoke of countless women in his bed and drunken fights that would leave him bleeding and bellowing in rage. She said that anyone with ill intent could have taken him out then, that no one had because her husband was loyal to the Lord Marshal and always would be _“…provided he is worthy of ruling the Necromongers.”_ She continued explaining that he was welcome to use me as he wished, but I must convert if he wished to make me his queen. They would not accept a fertile queen and would see him dead rather than a father. I listened and heard the smile in her voice. It was then that I knew; Lady Vaako was somehow certain she would know when I became pregnant. Just as she knew it was not likely to happen since we were not having sex.

     My mind raced, how would anyone know? People had seen me in the one bed in his room and those that cleaned had to see that we slept entwined… then it hit me and I felt stupid and foolish. They changed the sheets and there was never evidence of sex on them. That did not explain how the lady would know if I got pregnant? Suppressing my anger by thinking of him I smiled and asked sweetly, _“Is this your way of warning me? Telling me to watch my back, or are you hoping I will confirm that we only have protected sex? Would you rather I say we aren’t having sex or that we don’t sleep together at all?”_

     She smiled beautifully, but it never reached her eyes. In a sickly sweet voice, she said, _“Please, let’s have no lies between us. I just want you to be informed of what you have gotten yourself into.”_ With a smile on my own face, I said, _“Well thank you. I’ll keep this in mind.”_ We continued to talk for another half-hour and once I was safely alone I wanted to scream or maybe cry. The problem with that was if he was anywhere close he’d hear the scream and come running and if I cried, he would see my puffy eyes and smell the tears on the pillow. Then he’d demand to know what was wrong, and would not accept anything but the truth. How could I tell him that I wanted him now? If he learned of the lady’s scrutiny, he’d think that was the reason I wanted to get intimate. Might even believe I’m only wanting to ensure his protection from the Necros. That would flatter most men, but he would take it as an insult. **_Damn It! Why couldn’t I get over this fear of intimacy? Weren’t seven years long enough? Even with the dominant mindset and being with sweet submissive boys I have not gotten past the fear!_**  Then again I could not even masturbate without the fear kicking in and having to stop long before my body is satisfied. _**Who the hell do I think I am kidding? I will never be able to be with any man if I cannot conquer my intimacy issues. First I must bring myself to fulfillment before I can ever hope to be able to give a man pleasure.**_  The decision made, I walked into the room then realized Riddick could walk in on me in the bedroom. The doors did not stay locked against him, besides Riddick would know what I had been up to with just a sniff.

     He would give me privacy in the bathroom so I would have to do this in the tub. Plus there would be little to no scent as I would be submerged. Determined to get past the mental block I was not going to stop until I did what I needed to. So I filled the tub with warm soapy water. Taking off my clothes and folding them neatly I asked for a washcloth and stepped into the tub getting my body wash and began to scrub my arms and legs. Moving to my face and neck then to my chest where I took my time as I felt my body react to my touch. Thinking of Riddick laying me on the bed I remembered the kiss that I had tried to deepen and imagined that he had kissed me, imagined that my hands were his and touched my inner thigh. Then I slid toward my core and thought of his hands sliding on my body as he searched for the blade on my back.

     My mind drifted to memories of Riddick from the first time I set eyes on him up to this morning when he walked in from the shower toweling off his bald head and stark naked **_not that I could see anything as the bedroom was dark and the bathroom lights were low._ ** I began to masturbate, thinking of the man I wanted to make mine. Suddenly the fear was back, my eyes flew open trying to pull myself out of the forest and into the present. Even as I registered the tub and door, I could feel the boys holding me down for that bully. I screamed in frustration, slid down into the water and as I rose up again, threw the washcloth toward the door. To my horror, I see the door is open and Riddick is standing there goggles up on his forehead, he is holding onto the door frame and I sink back down to cover my breasts with the bubbles and water. Embarrassment floods my body and I watch as his eyes travel the same path my blush did.

     I realized his heartbeat had stuttered as he watched me emerge from the water, his reaction to my embarrassment was almost as incomprehensible. He then looked at the washcloth and back at me. His head tilts to the side and he waits for an explanation. I couldn’t tell him… or could I? Wrapping my left arm across my breasts and sitting up a bit straighter I look at him. I drop my gaze to my knees and softly say, _“I uh can’t… I've never… I‘ve tried to...ugh!”_ I covered my face with my right hand and fight the tears that have welled up in my eyes.

     There is a splat as the washcloth which had luckily hit the wall near the door earlier, and not Riddick was tossed into the sink by him. I began to pant as I watched him slowly scent the air before moving into the room. Even I smell the lust and fear in the air. It’s tinged with frustration too. He must realize I wanted him, right?

     Riddick called for a washcloth and the last body wash. He moved his index finger in a circle and I turned in the tub giving him my back. He wet the cloth before scrubbing my back in a slow caress. As his hand washed me he spoke, _“What are you trying to say, Jack?”_ Taking a deep breath I slowly release it and say, _“I can’t… finish.”_ Riddick asks, _“Finish… what?”_ I am so embarrassed the heat is radiating from me. _**He cannot be this dense**_ I think, but only say _“You know…”_

     As his voice rumbles behind me I can hear the smile clearly. _“So you are frustrated because you are frustrated?”_

     I was no longer flushed from embarrassment, now it was from anger, _“It isn’t funny, Riddick! If I can’t do this alone, how will I ever be able to be with…”_ I mumble the last word though it’s not the word I want to say, _“...anyone?”_

     Riddick stopped scrubbing my back and asked, _“You saying nobody’s ever...? They get off and leave you hanging?”_ His voice was calm telling me he was angry.

     I shook my head, saying, _“No. I can’t… I-I relive… every time I try!”_ My voice quivers as I fight the tears that have flooded my eyes. I wonder if his stillness is due to his realization that I have only ever found pleasure twice and both times had been during the gang rape I’d endured?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	12. Dreams come true...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie gets the thing she wants the most... Question is, will it be all she dreamed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: If you don't like reading smut, skip this whole chapter! For those that don't mind it, read on and enjoy.

**Chronicles of Jack:**

_**This is My Life.** _

**Chapter 12**

_**Dreams come true...** _

     Riddick ‘s forehead was gently pressed against my head, I have my answer. He whispers, _“You want help, Jack?”_

     My mouth opened but nothing came out, I felt his hand on my back begin to lift and I breathed out _“Yes!”_ His head moved and I felt him kiss my head, not unlike I’ve kissed Ziza. My disappointment was quickly quashed when he brought the washcloth up to my shoulder and over to my chest. Riddick washed my breasts with the washcloth and then took a soapy globe into each hand and squeezes softly before dragging his thumbs over the nipples.

     I moaned and arched into his hands, felt his breath ghost over my ear before he dropped kisses just behind my ear and down my neck to my shoulder. I feel his teeth nip at the skin and my head falls to the side giving him better access. He chuckles and begins to suck and lave my neck with his tongue. I hear him scent me and I know the growl he makes is lust filled. One hand moves down and cups me. I grind up into his hand and moan as he spreads my lower lips, my legs falling open as my hips thrust up. _“Please, Riddick,”_ I begged and he moans against my shoulder which makes me shiver.

     Turning my head to look at him, I am pleasantly surprised when he takes the opportunity to kiss me deeply, his tongue sweeping into my mouth and tempting mine to play. His hand leaves my mound and cups my jaw as the kiss becomes his focus. He seems to ask me for something and though I know not what, my body reacts on instinct and he must get the affirmative he wanted. Suddenly he is standing and pulling off his shirt which has gotten damp as my wet arms have moved around his back to cling to him. I am shocked, wondering if I’ve done something wrong I let my eyes drop. I hear his boots drop one at a time and I am now confused for a moment as my mind processes the information. Suddenly my body is frozen for an entirely different reason. I hear his zipper begin to slide down and the fear is back. I am shaking so hard the water begins to lap up the sides of the tub.

     Riddick has frozen and I am now wallowing in despair as I think to myself: _**What The Hell Is Wrong With Me?!**_ I just know that he’s going to leave. Again he surprises me by moving to the tub, lifting me up and stepping into the bath with his pants on. He puts me on his lap and wraps an arm around my waist and hugs me to him saying softly, _“Nothing is gonna happen here that you don’t want. We’ll go as slow as you need.”_ He let go and got shampoo for my hair. after that, he asked for a hand-held shower head, which he used to rinse out the shampoo. Then as he rubbed in the conditioner, he asked me a question.

 _“Did you like what we were doing, Jack?”_ His hands are massaging my head and I had begun to relax. his question took a moment to register but I answered with little thought and moaned, _“Yes.”_ as I leaned into his touch. There was a rumble in his chest, I could feel it through my back. As he rinsed out my hair again, he whispered softly, _“Touch yourself for me, Jack.”_ Again without much thought, I moved my right hand to my mound and my left went to my breast. He began to kiss the other side of my neck, biting and sucking to leave his mark on me. My hips rolled and he palmed my other breast.

     Again my fear spiked and his other hand splayed on my stomach, and he said, _“Open your eyes, Jack, stay with me. No one's gonna hurt you, babe. I’ll kill anyone who tries.”_ My eyes flew open and I saw the bathroom instead of the forest. His voice was my anchor and his arms my haven. I continued rubbing my clit, my body squirming on his lap. Grabbing his left biceps with my left hand allowed him to palm both my breasts and he growled in satisfaction.

     Panting and moaning I could feel something coiling tighter and tighter low in my belly, Riddick must know because he commanded, _“Cum for me Jack!”_ I did and screamed, _“Yes!”_ I was shivering and writhing in the aftermath of my first fear free climax with Riddick holding me close when the need to kiss him had me turning in his arms and doing just that. The air caressed my wet, throbbing slit and I needed friction, I moved up until we were slotted tightly together and he moaned as I began to move against his erection.

     He let me do as I pleased and watched as I sat up and rode him as I touched my breasts. It wasn’t enough and I breathed out, _“Please Riddick… I need… agh, more!”_ He smiled and thrust his hips up to meet me causing me to whine. It was not enough! _“Need you, now!”_ I begged as I rubbed my breasts against his chest and kissed his neck, sucking hard to mark him as mine. He grabbed my head with his left hand, holding me close moaning as he gave me better access to his neck. I palm him through his cargos and am rewarded with his involuntary hip thrust, making me bolder. Kissing his chest I moved toward one nipple while feeling for the other with my free hand.

     Suddenly doubt clouds my mind and I don’t know what to do. Riddick cups my face in both hands and kisses me gently. He tells me, _“Jack, we’ll go as slow as you need, you’re in control here.”_ He kisses me again and leans back. I realize that I can stop now and he’d let me leave. As empowered as that made me feel, I knew that if we stopped now, I’d create a different block that we’d have to work through.Turning in his arms I was suddenly straddling him and kissing him. Riddick’s hands roamed over my body. Then as I was about to reach for his waistband, he picked me up and stood with me. He let me slide down his body and stepped out of the tub to grab a towel then wrapped me in it and helped me out of the tub. He dried me off and with a glance at his fly he let me know this would be it if I stopped us now, or I could unzip his pants and we could move forward together. My heart raced and with some fear and a lot of need I reached for his zipper with one hand while grabbing his waistband with the other to pull his zipper away from his skin as I knew he usually went commando.

     With all my focus on his zipper, I could not help but notice as his erection sprang free of its confines. My mouth went dry and I felt a new kind of fear and an uncertainty as I saw how large Riddick was. He caught my chin in his hand and lifted until I was looking into his eyes and seeing the smile that lit his eyes even as it spread across his face, I lost all fear. He kissed me and lifted me into his arms. He walked swiftly into the bedroom, put me down in the center of the bed and lay down next to me. With a kiss that curled my toes, he moved down my body until I was gasping for each breath. Using lips, teeth and tongue he focused his attention on my breasts and then moved lower. As he passed my navel he veered off to the right and kissed from my hip down to my knee before moving back up my inner thigh to my center. Just before he reached his destination he stopped and looked up at me. Seeing the lust in his eyes as I heard him sniff, I felt my juices flow as I watched his eyes shine in the dark room. He whispered, _“You’re so wet.”_ I moaned as his warm breath blew over my sensitive skin. _“I have to taste you!”_ he stated before licking me and moaning, causing me to become wetter. He held my hips down as I began to buck under the exquisite torture of his lips tongue and teeth as he sucked my clitoris.

     My breathing came in gasps as I grabbed the covers with both fists. My moans and gasps grew louder as his tongue slipped inside me. Riddick slipped a finger into me and began to push in deeper with each thrust. He inserted another finger and gave me a moment to adjust before continuing his thrusting. Soon I was meeting his thrust; he added another finger and stretched me out before beginning to thrust. I was reaching my climax when he suddenly pulled out his fingers and brought them to his mouth where he sucked and licked them clean. Before I could get frustrated, I felt him move up my body and he kissed me deeply. He rolled us over, so I was on top, giving me control.

     Tasting myself on his tongue sent desire through me. Reaching for his cock I guided him to my opening and he moved in slowly, continuously stopping to let me adjust and gritting his teeth as I squirmed at his slow entrance. I tried to push down on to him but he held my hips and kept me from doing it. He guided my movements until I panted, _“Faster!”_ My voice was husky and demanding. Riddick growled and sat up reaching around my back to grab my right shoulder with his right hand to better pound into me from below. As I felt myself shatter, I cried out, _“Riddick!”_ He continued thrusting through my climax and prolonging it. He began to slow his thrusts, but I knew he had not reached his peak yet. Something inside me thought, **_Oh hell no! You are not pulling out!_** I bring my mouth to his shoulder and growl, _“Mine!”_ Just before biting down on him. His reaction was to hammer into me and he groaned out, _“Jackie!”_ before shooting his load as he plunged balls deep into me and held me close.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	13. Not hiding!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie awakens to the realization that someone has been in the room and Riddick isn't worried. She is afraid, he wants to know why?

**Chronicles of Jack:**

_**This is My Life.** _

**Chapter 13**

_**Not hiding!** _

 

     Riddick stirred behind me, waking me out of a sound sleep. I felt worn out and realized we’d both fallen asleep. It became obvious to me that Riddick smelled sex. He froze, then his memories must have caught up and he remembered how we’d spent the afternoon. He gave a growl that conveyed a happy, self-satisfied feeling to me. Then he reached for the shive he kept under his pillow and I wondered why. I decided to give him a heads up that I was awake and stretched just as my belly rumbled, I laughed and said, _“Oh, wow, I’m hungry!”_

     Chuckling, he let go of the shive and moved his hand out from under the pillow. He began to stand when I suddenly gasped. His head whipped around and he looked around the room to find the danger, seeing nothing but a tray table with fruits, cheeses, and wine near the foot of the bed. He was not surprised, saying, _“It’s fine Jack, one used to appear after the concubines were kicked out.”_

_“What?”_ I practically yell. Before he can answer I pull the sheet he’d covered us up with before we fell asleep around myself. I began pacing and mumbling. The smell of my fear was overpowering the smell of sex. The sheet caught on the dresser as I whipped around again. Tripping I reached out to protect my face, letting the snagged sheet slip off my body. Riddick caught me and pulled me up against his chest.

      _“What’s got you so scared Jack!”_ I could not have lied to him, so I bit my lip and did not answer. Riddick growled in warning and I sighed. I knew he wouldn’t let it go that he’d keep asking until I told him. I shivered in the cool room and Riddick stepped aside to grab the sheet, he wrapped it around me and picked me up to sit at the foot of the bed. He checked the grapes and gave me the bunch just as my stomach gave another vocal protest at not being fed.

      _“What’s got you acting like this?”_ He lifted my chin so I’d have to meet his eyes. _“Not letting you out of here till you answer.”_ My answering smirk made him growl. _“I can make your stay here very pleasurable… or very uncomfortable,”_ he whispered into my ear.

     I laughed and sputtered, _“I don’t doubt that for a moment, Riddick.”_ Once I calmed down a bit I popped a grape into my mouth and one into his. After a few grapes were eaten I took a deep breath, _“I was informed that the Necromongers will not accept a fertile queen and would rather see you dead than see you become a father.”_

     He’d tensed at my statement before looking into my eyes as he asked, _“Who, Jack... Why?”_ I knew there was no way he’d except a vague answer this time. I fought the urge to lower my eyes and said, _“Lady Vakko, was warning me. She doesn’t like owing anyone, I saved her so she warned me. Let me know she has a way of knowing that we’ve slept in the same bed, but not had sex… yet. If she has someone on the staff… others will too!”_

     He began to growl as I explained her “helpful warning.” He sat me on the bed and told me, _“Get dressed for dinner.”_ Something in his voice made me feel uncertain as to where we stood. I stood to walk to my closet when he stepped in front of me. I looked at his chest, unable to look up. He cupped my face and brought it up then gently kissed me and hugged me tightly. Saying, _“We are not hiding this, Jack! You’re mine!”_ As he let me go he growled, _“The Necros got no say in this!”_

     With a nod to him, I got dressed quickly and ran my brush through my hair, meeting him at the door. We both sported hickeys on our necks. Riddick pulled me against his side, saying _“There’s a lot of people here for dinner.”_ I reached to hide the love bites on my neck, making him growl and catch my hands. We walked into the dining room and he pulled out my chair. Greeting everyone as I sat down. Riddick gave a nod and a grunt as he sat down.

     The servants brought in the food and the guests helped themselves. People began to talk and soon I hear Commander Vakko whisper to Riddick, _“You realize you’ve done more than mark her as yours, you’ve painted a target on her for anyone that wants to take her place. You won’t be able to interfere in a public challenge. Someone as young as her… most of the nobility are pampered and weak. There are some however that have taken self-defense and even weapons training.”_

     I leaned forward to look at Vaako and said, _“Perhaps they should be warned that I’ve taken self-defense since I was seven years old, took weapons training and many kinds of martial arts with masters for the last six years and learned knife work from Riddick.”_ Vaako was taken aback as he did not think I would have heard his whispered warning to Riddick. His eyes snapped to Riddick as he chuckled before he said, _“Might also want to tell ‘em she’s half-Furyan too.”_ His smile was feral and I felt my animal push forward, I clamped down on my animal and gave a soft smile.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	14. Nobles talk too much.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Riddick, ‘We show no fear! Not to the enemy, not to our allies.’"   
> “Using my words against me? That’s low Jack! --”

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**_This_ _is My Life._ **

**Chapter 14**

**_Nobles talk too much._ **

     Days passed peacefully, nights were total bliss for us in our own little world. At breakfast one morning, Zizza told Riddick all about the snake that now resided in the sitting room. I smiled indulgently at her, realizing she’d found a father-figure. Soon Riddick was getting ready to leave, as he was standing up I called softly, _“Riddick have you decided... about the Nobility? They’re gonna expect me there.”_ He growled low, for my ears only. With a frown, I gave a huff of breath and said, _“They’ll think you fear for me, that makes you weak. Makes it seem like you don’t think I can handle myself. Maybe even fear one of them will kill me to keep you.”_

_“Fear is the mind killer!”_ Riddick stated. I smiled, responding, _“Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.”_ Riddick seemed surprised, laughing, I said, _“I’ve read Dune.”_ He chuckled and shook his head. _“Damn! How the hell did I forget that you’d know I’ll read anything I can get my hands on?”_ He asked ruefully. I could not stop smiling and so just shrugged.

     Looking at me for a few moments he finally said, _“I’ve never feared anything or anyone. I don’t know how to handle fearing for someone… Now there’s you, your family too. I lost people I was starting to connect with on that hell-hole. Lost a pack member here on this ship. Nearly lost my mind thinking it might have been you. I now know fear!”_

     I’m humbled by the admission, but I need him to recognize we can not show the Necros that we have this fear. They will use it against us if they can. I nod and say, _“Riddick, **‘We show no fear! Not to the enemy, not to our allies.’** That’s what you told me on that last hop to New Mecca.”_ Riddick froze as I started the quote, he took a deep breath and growled, _“Using my words against me? That’s low Jack! --”_ He rubbed a hand over his bald head and huffed out, _“Fine, you come armed, in something sensible and stay by my side!”_ I jumped at him and he caught me pulling me up for a long kiss and my heartfelt thanks. All of which made him chuckle as he lowered me back down.

     As he turned to walk out I said, _“Stay safe.”_ to which he said, _“Ya, you too.”_ After he left I went to look at the dresses in the closet and found most either exposed to much skin or was impractical for a fight. Sleeves too tight for easy movement. Skirts too long and some too tight. I put the one that might work on and began a Kata to figure out if my movement was restricted in it. This would work but was not the best. I would need new clothes, nice looking shirts, pants, and shoes that did not prevent hand to hand combat. I know there has to be some dresses meant for fighters. Time for some research!

     While searching through battle clothing in history I found pants that looked like a long skirt. Found drawings of other clothes too. There was even something called a battle gown in ancient times on old earth. Seemed impractical for my purposes though it was interesting. I took screenshots of promising outfits. Grabbed my dresses and my tablet and went in search of Lejjun. Together we would figure something out.

     I was in the shower when Riddick came in and joined me. He held me and kissed me then asked if I needed help. I laughed and said, _“Riddick if I let you help me shower we won’t be attending anything tonight. Besides, I was just rinsing off, I’m done.”_ He frowned and said, _“What if I promise to behave?”_ At my confusion, he smiled and asked, _“Would you help me shower?”_ Unable to stop myself I laughed, _“Oh no, we are going to this throne room thing -- whatever it is. **'We aren’t hiding this!'** Those were your words, remember!”_

     Riddick growled and yanked me against his chest. Growling out, _“I know what I said, Jack. Stop using my words against me.”_ He kissed my forehead and squeezed me again. _“Stop making me,”_ I said into his chest. Dropping a kiss over his heart I smiled as I pushed back and looked at him. I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. As Riddick showered I got ready for the evening. I was putting on earrings when he moved up behind me took the clip from my hair and began a braided style. When he finished I stood and slipped on a pair of wedged shoes and grabbed a pair of hair sticks which he took and placed in my hair very carefully as they were weapons for self-defense.

     Riddick sat on the throne and had me sit on the bench-like side on his left. The metal design sticking out of the spiral column gave me little room on my left. The throne’s armrest gave me no room on my right. The nobles came up and Commander Vaako introduced them to Riddick and myself. Soon after the line of fifteen couples and a larger number of singles passed in front of the throne we were free to move around and get food from a buffet. Finger foods of all kinds were laid out for the nobles. Riddick didn’t trust food not made in his rooms so we did not go to the table. I could see that there were some people watching us, so as he was talking with one of the other commanders, I went to the table and put some grapes and crackers on the plate.

     I saw Riddick’s frown as I turned to walk back to him and so mouthed the words _‘for show’_ to him. His face changed as he fought a smile. With a quick nod of his head, he conceded the point and turned back to his conversation. As I walked towards him a group of nobles suddenly surrounded him and a couple of them came up to me to converse. Before I knew it I was being led off to the side of the throne room. I turned around and walked back toward Riddick without a word to the nobles. As I was passing a small table with drinks on it I heard a beep, just as one of the nobles grabbed my arm to prevent me walking away from him as he continued talking. My bodyguard was just reaching us when I registered the sound and screamed, _“Bomb!”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	15. I’m gonna need a little more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the explosion, Jack is taken to the Medical team. She must also deal with Riddick.

**Chronicles of Jack:**

_**This is My Life.** _

**Chapter 15**

**_I’m gonna need a little more_ **

     As I yelled out the warning I pointed to the table. The Noble next to me turned to run as my bodyguard put himself between me and the table as we began to move away. The bomb blew, sending us flying forward, and shrapnel into my bodyguards back and my left leg. I hit the floor and could hear the chaos around me, people screaming, others yelling orders and Riddick calling my name. Things begin to fade in and out, I hear Riddick’s heartbeat and realize he has me in his arms and is carrying me somewhere. I feel woozy and try to ask him what’s wrong. To my surprise, I make some noise but no words form.

 _“I’ve got you, Jack. You’re fine.”_ Riddick says. My hearing, however, is not fine, it sounded like I was underwater or my ears were stuffed with cotton. My vision was black around the edges. I was able to ask if the others were okay, Riddick shushed me and I heard Vaako say the others were being seen to. I heard someone say, _“Your warning saved lives, everyone moved away from the bomb-”_ Felt a rumble in Riddick’s chest and felt his arms tighten just as my vision went black.

**************

     I came to slowly, blinking in a harsh white light, realize I’m on my stomach. Then I felt a hand moving in my hair. I turn my head and see Riddick sitting in a chair on my right side. I feel the dull pinch of stitches as the doctor puts them in. I hear a feminine voice say, _“Sir, we can perform a procedure to solve that problem.”_ Riddick asks, _“What sort of procedure?”_ There is a muffled answer to which Riddick growls, _“Why the hell would I want that! Her blood’s tasty.”_ There’s more said but it is muffled and unintelligible. I hear the doctor or a nurse say, _“She’s awake.”_ and then I feel a shot in the arm and someone answers, _“Not for long.”_ Again my vision darkens and I’m out.

**************

     I wake up from a deep sleep. Riddick was on my right side. Left leg is in a sling to keep it elevated I guess. When I see the door slide open. Riddick grabs my hand as I reach for a blade that is not there. A female walks in and smiles as she says, _“You’re awake! Good afternoon. The Lord Marshal has lunch being delivered soon. We’ll just check your vitals and let you two enjoy your meal.”_

     As she and another woman walked into the room, Riddick gave my hand a squeeze. I relaxed and listened to his heartbeat. The younger woman took my vitals and the first one checks the data before saying, _“Barring any complications, you should be good to go this evening. Do you have any questions for me?”_ I’m thinking **{** _ **Are you for real?**_ **}** but say, _“Yeah, what’s wrong or I suppose it’s what was wrong with me?” “Miss al-Walid, do you remember what happened to you yesterday?”_ The doctor asked me. I roll my eyes and say, _“Yeah, the bomb blew the table apart and knocked me to the floor, I hit my head and the percussion wave blew out my eardrums. I meant what the fuck was all that about a procedure to take care of the problem?”_

     The doctor was shocked and Riddick laughs like the psycho people believe him to be. The nurse says, _“Don’t worry, that procedure was not done. Your eardrums were damaged but we were able to repair them and the knot on your head has been dealt with. There was no concussion. And the piece of metal in your thigh was removed without any problems. Stitches and a mild sedative were given to keep you still last night. The test results on that bone graft should be--”_ There is an audible buzz and the doctor looks at her tablet.

     The doctor turns to Riddick and he nods so she speaks, _“There is a familial match, The other person was related to you, but I see no reason for a bone graft in your medical records. Was there a specific reason for the procedure?”_ I looked her in the eyes and said, _“The lady said she was my cousin, tricked my family and then took my place. For it to work she had to smell like me so without telling me or my father, she took me out of C_ rio _and switched a hunk of femur with me.”_ The doctor was floored by this, and stammered, _“I don’t understand. Why would she need to smell like you?”_ I looked at Riddick and said, _“Furyans don’t forget a scent they’ve encountered before. He knew my scent she couldn’t pretend to be me and have the completely wrong scent.”_

     As there was nothing else to say about that, Riddick growled, _“If you’re gonna tell me she needs rest, understand that I’m not leaving without her.”_ The nurse said, _“Don’t worry My Lord, no one would throw you out of here. Your lunch has just arrived. We’ll leave you to it.”_ We were given lunch and I was poured water as I had been injected with medicines and the doctor had muttered about wine reacting badly with some of them.

     After lunch I found myself falling asleep. Sometime later I awoke as the two females from earlier walked in again. Another check was done and the doctor informed Riddick, _“We can discharge her now Lord Marshal. With your permission.”_ At his nod, she presented a tablet and stylus for me to sign my name where indicated. Told me I would need to take it easy for the next few days and not to overdo it. Riddick helped me off the exam table and that’s when I realized I was in pajamas and my shoes and clothes were not in sight.

     I was in thick socks but no shoes and so we were walking slower than Riddick was comfortable with, having just experienced nearly losing me. I myself felt unsafe so I looked at him and he lifted me into his arms. We did not rush and we weren’t going to stop for anyone either. Once we were safe behind closed doors Riddick carried me to the room and put me into our bed. Lejjun and Ziza were waiting in the living room. They followed us and Riddick explained that there had been an attempt either on my life or perhaps the nobles. I saved lives by yelling a warning and though my bodyguard was between me and the bomb, we’d both been injured by shrapnel. He told them I was to take it easy for a week and that I needed rest right now.

     They hugged and kissed me, telling me to get rest and they'd see me later. I told them not to worry, I was fine and would see them later. Once we were alone, I realized Riddick had not spoken directly to me since the night before. Sighing I look at him and wait for the condemnation and anger to be expelled. To my surprise, he just climbs into bed and wraps me in his arms. It’s then I realize that his animal is in control and he is all about protecting his mate and keeping her safe while she’s weak. I hold onto him and snuggle closer. We both sleep until morning.

     As I wake up, I find Zizza is cuddled up to me and Lejjun is in the chair from my makeup table. She has her needlepoint and is quietly working as I move to get up. She puts down her work and moves to help me. I go take care of my morning ablutions and get back into bed where she’s fluffed up pillows to allow me to sit up and eat. We talk quietly until Zizza wakes from her nap. Riddick arrives just as lunch is being brought in. Zizza rushes to hug him and he greets her enthusiastically and then greets us as well. After a light lunch, Lejjun and Zizza leave telling me not to overdo it.

     Riddick finally asks me, _“Why Jack?”_ I look at him and say, _“I’m gonna need a little more if you want me to answer.”_ In frustration he growls then says in his too calm voice, _“You should have been by the buffet table or by my side. Why were you there?”_ I have to take a few deep breaths before I can answer without the anger I was suddenly feeling. _“I did not break my promise! I went to the table when we were right by it, you walked off with the nobles and as I began to walk around the group a few broke off to talk_ _to me and we were suddenly by the pillars so I turned without acknowledging them and passed the table as I heard the beep, A noble caught my arm and started to rant as the guard reached us. The noise registered and the faint scent of explosives had me yelling out and pointing.”_

 _“Why didn’t you run the moment you turned? That shrapnel shouldn't have hit you at all.”_ Riddick growled in that cold calm voice. I looked at him in disbelief, _“Riddick, I have hidden my speed my entire life, I automatically moved as fast as those around me!”_ He growled again and said, _“You will not do that again! Do you understand me! If you’re in danger you will run like a fuckin' monster from Hades is after you!”_ I know he’s overreacting because he is afraid for me, but I can’t help chafing at the anger directed at me for things I could not control. _“Fine Riddick I will react with all my Furyan abilities and fuck who’s around!”_

     The silence is deafening, then he suddenly closed the distance between us and picks me up off the bed. Riddick holds me close as he mumbles into my neck, _“Can’t lose you, Jack! Need you to be safe! You make me whole! Love you, Jack!”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	16. Guess I should have known!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is angry, she doesn't like being confined to their rooms. Lies make Furyans angry, someone may get hurt!

**Chronicles of Jack:**

_**This is My Life.** _

**Chapter 16**

**_Guess I should have known!_ **

     Stressed due to Riddick’s constant meetings and not being allowed to leave the rooms without him, I was not happy. Riddick had turned a seldom-used room into a home gym for me and would work out with me on rare occasions. Still, I was unhappy, Riddick would come to bed late and rise early. Often not speaking to me for days. Soon I suspected he was not coming to bed at all. I was not going to put up with this for long. Ziza had waited for him so she could tell him about her latest project, he did not come home. I decided to speak to him today, he had not come to bed last night so I called him only to get Vaako. I insisted on setting up a meeting with Riddick for lunch when Vaako insisted that was not possible I, in turn, asked what our Lord Marshal was doing for lunch. After he told me, I said I would meet Riddick at the appointed time and location, I cut the call.

     When I was ready to leave, my new bodyguard informed me that he had been given orders to keep me in these rooms. I was so frustrated with Riddick that I ordered the new bodyguard to work out with me, I was going to spar and not hold back! Not sure if he knew I was half Furyan, but he was going to find out real quick. When the bodyguard started sparing he must have planned to take it easy on the girl. So he was shocked at the speed and agility “the girl” showed and was soon using all his skills to avoid my strikes and trying to stay on his feet! He was a bit surprised when I pinned him to the mat and told him, _“You stink of lust! Go take a shower!”_ I was across the room in a few strides, and the guard was stunned as he realized what I’d said. He stood, bowed to me and left the gym. Another guard came in and stood by the door apparently to keep an eye on me.

     My anger spiked at the thought that Riddick did not trust me. I went to the punching machine in the corner and in my anger, I was not thinking about what I was doing. Taking two knives from a bag which holds a change of clothes and my blades, I begin one of the routines that Kyra had taught me. Stabbing the blades into the pads and smiling as I saw the strikes I was using would have made her proud. Each stab registered as a hard punch to the machine. I heard Ziza call out as she searched for me and was suddenly in control again. I looked at the pads and saw that for a good hour or so I had let my animal take full control of my body. The pads were shredded and there was foam exploding out of them in chunks.

     I put away the blades and grabbed a small towel to wipe my sweat out of my eyes and moved out to meet my little sister so she would not see the mess. Knew I would not be able to hide my feelings from her she must have come looking for me because she felt my anger. So I took her to my room and I showered and we spent the rest of the day together! She helped to calm me as much as I could be calmed without dealing with Riddick and soon we sat down to dinner without him again.

     Just as we were about to eat dessert, Riddick walked in and I could feel his Alpha as he walked into the room. _“Ladies, good evening. May I join you for dessert?”_ He asked as he gave a small nod toward Lejjun and Ziza. Ziza nodded and ran to hug him. _“Riddick, I finished my project yesterday! I wanted to show you…”_ she trailed off and he put her down as he turned back to the door. My original bodyguard was standing there with his replacement. Both men looked tense and the new one was gonna be stubborn about something. Looking at them and back at Riddick, I see he’s curious.

     I had a feeling they wanted him to choose who was to be my lead bodyguard. I was suddenly very angry that the fool thought he was worthy of watching my back when he did little more than ogle me the last few days and after this afternoon, if I had a say my answer was no way in hell. I watched him look past Riddick and watched his eyes widen as he saw the anger on my face. To bad for him, Riddick saw his reaction to my anger and figured there was a story there. Riddick’s head tilted a little and I knew one eyebrow had popped up in the silent questioning. My original guard spoke softly so I did not hear what he said, the other, however, apparently had no volume control. _“Haven’t I kept her safe this week?”_ There was a growled word or two I didn’t catch from the original guard and Riddick said, _“Have you two had dinner yet? Join me for dinner while these lovely ladies have their dessert.”_

     The original guard tried to protest but the other walked in and sat down across from me. We took our desserts and began to eat as Riddick and the guards filled their plates. As they ate Riddick turned to me and explained, _“The Doc has given Donte a clean bill of health, Vaako put him through the paces this afternoon gave him the green light to return to his duties. Bradley says he wants to stay.”_ I eat my cake as I listened and so closed my eyes as the chocolate flooded my mouth. Riddick swooped in and licked icing from the corner of my mouth. As angry as I am I still love the intimacy, I hummed and then looked at the men on the other side of the table.

     I ask Riddick, _“Since they walked in, have you noticed one has kept his head on a swivel and the other has not taken his eyes off me?”_ He gave a slight nod and I continued, _“It seems to me the man that proved he has my back should have the job. Honestly, I don’t like this guy, he can’t do the job if he can’t keep his eyes off me. Besides that, I’ve been stuck in these rooms this entire week! What fu-ugh-danger was I in for him to claim he’s kept me safe?”_

     Riddick froze for a moment and then looked at me and said, _“What do you mean ‘stuck in these rooms’ didn’t you go to lunch with the wives, shopping with Dame Vaako or visiting with the Elemental?”_ I gritted my teeth and looked at the guard across from me. Riddick looked over and asked, _“Why did Commander Vaako tell me she’s been busy all week, Bradley. Did you lie in your reports? Don’t even think of lying to me, I can smell she spoke the truth.”_

     Bradley put down his fork and said, _“Sir, I only did as I was told. I kept her safe and that meant keeping her here in these rooms.”_ I looked at the bastard and asked, _“So the Commander told you to lie in your reports to the Lord Marshal and lie to me to say you were following the Lord Marshals orders?”_ He looked back and forth between us. I watched him realize that he was caught, he’d taken initiative in the wrong way and I had been angry at the wrong person. _“Riddick,"_  I said in a cold calm voice, _“I need him gone, don’t care where!”_ I felt Ziza move and let her sit in my lap to keep me seated. Everyone knew I was barely holding on to my anger. Riddick put a hand on the nape of my neck and my animal instantly relaxed. I held Ziza close and smiled at Riddick.

     Vaako was called and told to reassign Bradley. Dante escorted him out and the last of my tension left my body. We resumed eating and Riddick listened to everything Ziza had to say. Soon she and Lejjun walked out and Riddick turned to me with one eyebrow raised. I shrugged and said, _“I didn’t realize he’d been lying. He’s good at convincing himself so it isn’t a lie to him.”_ Riddick gave a nod then he asked, _“So what was that between you two?”_

_“I was beyond pissed at you for keeping me stuck here and avoiding me, not coming to bed until I was asleep and then not at all last night. Called Vaako and told him I would meet you at your lunch meeting. The prick said he was ordered to keep me here. Made me so mad, I ordered him to spar with me and didn’t hold back. He uh… got excited and when I dropped him to the mat I was hit with the stink of his lust. Thought I was gonna vomit. Told him to shower and as soon as he left another guard stood at the door, ‘thought you didn’t trust me to listen and stay put so I took out two blades and worked on hitting the machine._

_Need new pads… maybe a new machine. My animal took over and I came back to the surface when I heard Ziza calling my name, knew she felt how angry I was, looked around and saw the mess I’d made. Grabbed a towel and met her in the hall so she wouldn’t see the mess. Showered and dressed while we talked and I calmed down. Still angry at you, then the prick says he protected me and I can’t see how he could say that unless he was keeping me out of the loop on any attempts to break into our rooms. When you were confused by the statement that I’d been stuck here all week, I knew my anger had been directed at the wrong person.”_ I explained.

     Without a word, he picked me up grabbed a piece of cake and walked out of the dining room. To my surprise, he took me to the home office and put me down near his work table where he pulled up the map and showed me where the Ghost Army was headed. He began to eat his cake and left me to see the proposed path we traveled. I took a breath and said, _"No conquering? We're headed to the threshold, aren't we? Riddick, what are you doing?"_

     With a quirk of the lips, Riddick said, _"Saving lives. Not joining the death worshipers just distractin' 'em from their 'convert or kill everyone in the universe' kick."_ I looked at him and smiled. He moved over to me and put down the plate. Pulled me into his arms and kissed me. _"Wasn't avoiding you, Jack just got to bed late and had to get up early. Last night it was even later, so I slept on the couch. Won't do that again... unless you kick me out of bed. Couldn't sleep. Need to hold you, need your scent... need to know you're safe. Want my mate, always."_

_"Got no sleep last night, couldn't... not without you!"_ I whisper back. Riddick carries me to our room determined to make it up to me if the kisses are anything to go by.

 

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	17. We Need To Talk.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is symptomatic... What did Riddick do now?!

**Chronicles of Jack:**

_**This is My Life.** _

**Chapter 17**

**_We Need To Talk._ **

     I awoke to find Riddick still wrapped around me, I tried to stretch but he refused to let me go. I was not amused. He chuckled and nuzzled my neck causing me to squeal and smack his arms. _"Stop Riddick, I have to pee!"_ I yelled. He let me go and I stood up too fast, becoming lightheaded and reaching out to feel his hand clutch mine. _"I got ya, deep breaths, that's it."_  

     I gave his hand a grateful squeeze and took a few tentative steps. His deep voice was strained with worry as he asked, _"Sure you're okay?"_ I nod and bring his hand to my lips as I impart a kiss on the back. He smiles in relief as I let go and walk into the bathroom.

     After washing my hands, I wash my face and brush my teeth. Riddick walks in and starts the shower then moves up behind me and says, _"Come shower with me, we got to hurry or we'll be late."_ We shower quickly and keep our hands to ourselves though it is difficult, for me at least. Riddick dries me off and then takes another towel to dry himself. I follow him into the bedroom, clothes are laid out on the bed for me. We dress and go out to the dining room for breakfast.

     Riddick takes me to the war room where he is meeting with the commanders and as there is no seat for me, he pulls me onto his lap. I sit quietly and listen for the first hour or so. When the topic moves to the bomb I had detected in time to save lives, I am drawn into the conversation by the commander in charge of the investigation. Talk moves to what will happen when We leave the threshold and resume the cleansing, Riddick says, _“I’ll decide that after I come back.”_ The silence is deafening after that and Vakko clears his throat, saying to the group, _“It’s lunchtime, with your leave Lord Marshal?”_ At Riddick’s nod, he smiled and said, _“We’ll end this meeting here, until next month Commanders.”_

     We go home to eat with the family where I notice a smell coming from the table is making me nauseous. After I sit down with a plate filled with meat and a few veggies Ziza moves to take a seat on my lap but stops and asks, _"Are you not feeling well Jack?"_ This makes them look at her and then at me. Riddick cants his head to one side and asks, _"Jack, what is it?"_

     I can only shrug and tell them, _"Something on the table is making me nauseous, but I'm starving so I was trying to ignore it,"_ As soon as I say it, I think _**Oh hell, I made it sound like I think I'm pregnant!**_ That thought had not crossed my mind until now and suddenly I was unsure what I could do to defuse the worry in everyone's eyes. Going over my options quickly, I say, _"I'll go get checked out after lunch. Okay?"_ Riddick gives a nod and Lajjune stands and removes the fish and veggies that bothered her during her pregnancy without explaining to the staff why she wanted it gone.

     Once the smell was gone I was able to eat heartily and the others relaxed. When we were done, Riddick took me to see the doc. I was worried a little, I was not sure if I was ready to have a child. I was trying not to think about whether Riddick would want to have kids; having not talked about that possibility except as the Necros' reason for murder. The doc from last time was dealing with some soldiers that had taken a disagreement too far.

     We had the younger one attending us so she asked what she could do for us. I told her I felt nauseous earlier, but once the fish had been taken off the table I felt fine. Riddick then said, _"She was also dizzy this morning."_ I rolled my eyes and said, _"I stood up too fast, Riddick, I haven't been light-headed at all since then."_ After a moment the Silence begins to get awkward.

     The young doc says, _"If I go by the vague symptoms I would suggest we test you for all the usual illnesses and diseases. But honestly, my first thought was pregnancy."_ At that statement, I was suddenly worried. She took blood to run some tests and I asked if she would need a urine sample to do the pregnancy test. She informed me that a small portion of my blood would be used to perform that test. As we waited I had to use the bathroom and discovered that my period had come. I was both relieved and a bit disappointed.

     As I walked out I saw Riddick scent the air and freeze. He opened his arms and I went into them. He didn’t say anything, just hugged me. I felt my eyes sting and fought the tears. He pulled back a bit and said, _“Scent is different! Not like the last few months.”_ Just then the door opened and the young Doc walked in with a stony look on her face. As the door closed she pushed some buttons on the wall panel and then let out a shaky breath.

     Riddick watched her as she moved into the room. Turning to her I told her, _"I'm not pregnant Doc, my period started."_ She looked confused and looked at my chart than flipped a few more pages and gave a nod. She sighed and said, _"Well, of course, you started your period, that was what Lord Marshal Riddick told Doctor Tilda he wanted."_ She saw our confusion and she continued, _"You are pregnant, but you will continue to have your period every month."_

_"What do you mean I will have my period every month!?"_ then turned to him and asked in a cold calm voice, _"What did you say exactly?"_ His jaw tensed and he squeezed my hip. I growled my displeasure at the instruction that we would talk later. **_Oh, we most certainly will talk later!_**

 

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	18. Necros… urgh!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack talks to Riddick... she isn't happy with his answers, she is worried too.  
> Will they be able to hide this secret from the Necros or will Ziza's fears alert them?

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**_This is My Life._ **

**Chapter 18**

**_Necros… urgh!!_ **

     As soon as we were in our quarters, I turned to Riddick and asked him, _“What exactly did you say to the doctor?”_ He answered calmly, _“Doc said she could stop your cycle. Said she’d make you sterile, my animal tried to take charge. Told her I liked the blood, she was not to stop the monthly bleed. Not sure what she did, but she said you’d have your normal monthl_ y. _Didn’t think to ask how she’d done it.”_

_“No Riddick, you **didn’t think** , period! They do whatever you say! **Exactly** what you say!”_ I shoved his chest to no avail as he did not move. He reached for me and I evaded his arms, moving across the room. _“What is going to happen to our baby?“_ He opened his mouth as if to speak then closed it again. With a heavy sigh, he said, _“The young doc said she’d hide the pregnancy as long as she could… We’ll deal with this together, figure out how to keep you and the baby safe. I promise you, the Necros won’t touch_ _our baby, Jack.”_ I went into his arms and hugged him tightly.

     Riddick had to get back to his meetings, but I was too frazzled to attend them with him. I instead chose to use my tablet and find the info I would need as an expectant mother. I knew there was a lot of old wives tales that suggested all kinds of restrictions and a whole lot of things once thought to be true that turned out not to be true at all. Lajjun and Ziza came looking for me and as soon as she saw what I was researching my adoptive mother took me in her arms and held me just as I suddenly burst into tears.

     Ziza asked, _“What’s wrong, Jack?”_ as she hugged me from behind. I shook my head and tried to stop the blubbering to answer but could not do it. Lajjun took her hands and told her, _“Your sister is going to have a baby, but we must keep it a secret from the Necromongers for they wish to bring death or conversion to the Universe and will not want the Lord Marshal to father children.”_ Ziza worked the information out in her mind for a few moments before asking us, _“Does Riddick know or can we not tell him?”_ Her determined look shook me from my morose state and I was able to stop crying and answer.

_“Riddick was there when I was told, the doctor knows but she’s one of those that conversion doesn’t make mindless, she’s deleted the test and changed the reason for our visit to something like a routine checkup for the wounds from the bomb blast.”_ Ziza smiled at that and asked, _“So when do we leave?”_ To which Lajjun and I hugged her and laughed. Just then Riddick walked in and his eyebrow rose in question.

      _“We’ll discuss that soon enough little one. Right now let’s just keep our celebrations private. Sound good?”_ Riddick said to us all as he walked up to pull us all into a hug. To my embarrassment, I purred at the feel of being surrounded by my family… my pack. _“Oh!”_ Lajjun exclaimed as Ziza giggled and Riddick chuckled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     After an hour of quiet discussion in our room, we split up to get ready for dinner. Riddick and I showered and changed. We arrived in the hall just as a knock came at the door Riddick growled low in his chest and I put a hand on his arm to remind him to calm down before opening the door. He took a deep breath and pulled me into his arms, kissing me thoroughly after he called out, _“Come in.”_

     The Vaakos and the Toals walked in and gave us a nod as we turned to face our dinner guests. When I saw the scrutiny of both ladies, I felt my animal surge forward. My shoulders went back and my chin went up, as my teeth ground together. Riddick gave a low hum of approval and motioned toward the dining room. The Commanders motioned in turn to us as the higher ranking couple. We led them into our dining room and as we sat down to eat I saw Ziza squirm on her seat. I realized that she was uncertain if she should sit on my lap and that Dame Vaako would know she always sits with me and would wonder why this changed. I pushed my knee into Riddick’s thigh and felt his eyes on me as I looked at the Dame and Ziza in turn.

     Riddick looked around the table and calmly gave Ziza permission to sit with me. She moved over and I picked her up and kissed her cheek then whispered, _“Act normally my Ziza or they’ll start thinking. Let’s not give them anything to wonder about.”_ I can tell she’s afraid of hurting the baby, Riddick must have the same thought as he begins a conversation with the Commanders and Lajjun compliments Dame Toal on her dress and rings. I join this conversation and we have a pleasant dinner. After my family retreats to bed, Riddick and I take our guests into the main living room.

     Riddick moves over to the tank and lifts off the cover. He reaches in with his left hand and as the snake moves, his right snatches it behind its head and he grabs a thinly covered glass tube then proceeds to milk the snake’s venom and listens to the murmuring of the couples as they seem unwilling to distract him. Once milked the snake is put into its tank and I drop in a live mouse and some seeds.Commander Vaako asks, _“Last meal?”_ I give a nod as Riddick says, _“Condemned men in prisons on earth used to get whatever they wanted as a last meal. Now whatever the dead man ate last is his last meal.”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 


	19. Surprises and Attacks!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Riddick attend the ball, the Necros get a surprise or two then Riddick is called away and the guard is left to finish the dance and take her home. Maybe Riddick should have kept her close...

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**_This is My Life._ **

**Chapter 19**

**_Surprises and Attacks!_ **

 

     Vaako tells Riddick there is to be an Extravaganza, a sort of Ball to celebrate the Lord Marshal taking the first consort. Riddick caught the spike of anger in my scent and squeezed my thigh. He then drew circles on the outside of my thigh with his thumb. I calmed at his touch but knew he’d rather have me in his arms as it would be my preference too. Someone had brought in an extra chair for me so that Riddick would stop focusing on me. They must not realize he had heard everything they said, while I was on his lap. He simply prefered to ignore the things he felt would push him to kill these Necros before their due time. That and my presence helped to calm him.

     Now without me on his lap, our hands had to be clasped or we had to be touching each other in some way to keep him from shedding blood for minor things. Soon enough these commanders came to understand that when I asked a question it was to learn and they had better answer or their Lord Marshal might just beat them to death. The first time I had asked a question the commander that had just given his report was actually saved by the fact I was sitting in Riddick’s lap and was able to grab his hand to stop him reaching for the blade. With a sigh, I had to explain why I was asking and when he answered in a condescending voice he found two blades had been drawn and was shocked that I was holding one of them. I said in a saccharine voice, _“You might want to watch that tone. The only reason we did not throw one or both of these blades is that I chose to give you a second chance.”_ The guy looked at Riddick and saw my right hand was holding his wrist. Riddick laughed out loud and I watched as more than one commander shivered at his laugh. (Or was it the smile that spread on my face at the sound of his laughter?)

     Riddick told them all he expected them to answer my questions as I am his advisor and so must learn these things so to better advise him. He sheathed the blade he’d taken from my thigh as I replaced the one in my hair. Most of the time I learned by sitting quietly and observing the meetings. The men soon stopped staring at me and started to accept my presence as normal. I rarely missed a meeting as they were held early and my 'morning sickness' did not hit until around noon. Riddick felt that perhaps the time might coincide with morning on a planet. We had yet to find one that would match.

     One day as we walked through the halls towards the training area, Vaako began telling us about the itinerary for the upcoming Ball. There would be a dinner and dancing, the nobles and the high ranking officers would be there. He was being very careful with his wording, prompting me to ask him, _“What did Lord Marshal Zhylaw do at these sorts of things?”_ He tensed before answering carefully, _“He danced with the women…”_ paused and huffed out, _“...chose the one he would take to his bed for the night - if not longer.”_

     Riddick grunted and shook his head as if to say the bastard was all kinds of wrong. I gave a wane smile and said, _“They’ll be surprised to find their new Lord Marshal will not follow that particular practice.”_ Riddick twined his fingers with mine then lifted my hand and pulled it up to kiss it. _“Won’t be doing a lot of things the way Zhylaw did ‘em,”_ Riddick said as he looked at the commanders.

     Soon Riddick dismissed them all and we waited for the men to leave before he rose and helped me to my feet, Vaako rose as well and asked if he should schedule dance lessons for us. Riddick looked at me and lifted an eyebrow, I shook my head and said, _“I had ballroom dance classes at the private school. It was required as most of the students were children of people in their planetary government and most would be going into those governments.”_ Vaako gave a nod and looked at Riddick, he then turned and walked out. Smiling I just let Riddick lead me out of the room and to our rooms. My guards were trailing us through the halls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     We had a quiet dinner with the family and let them know about the ball to be held soon. Riddick explained to them that he would not risk them by having them attend. I knew Ziza would be upset that she could not go with us. After all, Riddick had promised to protect her even if it meant using these monsters to protect her. I asked him to let me talk to her then explained they were honoring me or I would not go either. Riddick was fussing because he blames himself for not protecting me from the bomb at that nobles party we had to go to.

     She accepted the explanation and asked me to make sure her uncle and I make it back safely. I promise then tell her she can help me figure out what kind of dress to make. We say goodnight and I tuck her in. Riddick was waiting in the hall for me. _“Shouldn’t promise her that,”_ he stated quietly. I give him a nod to acknowledge his words.

_“Can’t always keep such a promise,”_ he stated as we walked into our bedroom. I turn to him and he realizes I’m pissed off. I turn and ask, _“Do you plan on dying at the ball?”_ Riddick says _“Wha… No!”_ I angrily say, _“I sure the fuck plan to make sure I will come back safely too!”_ He snorts at me and says, _“That isn’t what she meant!”_ Speaking through clenched teeth I say, _“Then please enlighten me! Tell me what **MY** **little sister** meant by her words!”_

     Taking a deep breath he calms himself before speaking, _“Look, Babe maybe I misunderstood… because yes she could have meant to get you to promise her we wouldn’t go looking for trouble. I took it as she was asking you to protect us from all danger.”_ The look he gave me clearly said **‘That’s my job!’** I watched as he slowly opened his arms and then I walked into his embrace and instantly calmed as his scent surrounded me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Riddick and I walked down the main hallway to the ball. He whispered to me, _“Don’t eat or drink anything, just pretend to. Stay by my side, unless I say otherwise.”_ I gave a subtle nod and Riddick lifted my hand to kiss my knuckles. I smiled and told him, _“I’ve some snacks for us to eat and some water too.”_ He chuckled.

     As we entered the room the elegantly dressed people suddenly looked our way and went quiet. Riddick led me to the long table and sat me in the chair on his left and sat on the throne at the center of the table. Vacco sat on his right side and his wife sat to the right of him. To my left sat Toal’s wife and on her left, sat her husband. I suspected this was to keep Riddick from slitting his throat if he talked to me.

     As dinner progressed Riddick surprised the Necros when he swirled and sniffed the wine before tasting it and approving of the drink. We ‘ate’ a few bites (really we both snacked on the food I’d brought) and had sips of water from our flasks. Anyone who saw might think it was alcohol and so would not worry about the royal couple passing it back and forth.

     Soon Commander Vaako leaned in to whisper to Riddick and the Lord Marshal rose and offered me his hand. I put my hand on his and stood up, allowing him to lead me where he would. Again he shocked the Necros as we began a waltz. We danced a box step. then something caught our eye and we paused as Vaako rushed over to whisper that something important needed his attention. Riddick motions to my guard and when Donte arrives at my side, Riddick puts my hand in his and tells him to finish the dance then he was to escort me from this shindig and back to our rooms. He kissed me and whispered, _“Be safe.”_ I nodded and whispered back, _“You too. Love you.”_ He hugged me tight then went with Vaako.

     Donte and I continued to dance as Riddick walked out the door. Just then we were suddenly surrounded by nobles and I was in someone else's arms. While he tried to get back to me leaving the lady that had been thrust into his arms standing in the middle of the dance floor. The noble I was dancing with spoke to me briefly before another pulled me into his arms and began his pitch about something I could not follow as the other noble was yelling and trying to get me back. By the fourth switch, I was done and was reaching for a blade when Donte was suddenly pulling me away and danced me off the floor just as the music stopped. We went out a side door and began to walk down a long hallway. I squeezed his arm as I said in a light tone, _“Waite, I need to take off these heels, my feet are killing me.”_ As I reached for each shoe I whispered, _“There are three men waiting ahead to ambush us.”_ His eyes widened but he did not ask questions just gave a slight nod and pulled his weapon. We continued down the hall talking about the dance and the nobles that wanted to use me to get to the lord marshal and influence his decisions.

     Meanwhile, I was hearing three heartbeats beginning to accelerate. Scenting the air I found fear and anxiety mixed in with anticipation and the stronger scent of Donte’s determination. Up ahead was a connecting hallway and flanking its opening were pillars. **{Perfect place for an ambush.}**

     As we were a few steps from the connecting hall, Donte moved the hand holding his gun behind his back and I pantomimed to him that I would drop down low. We passed the first pillar and one man was standing in the middle of the hallway to focus attention on him while the other two stood behind the pillars waiting to attack. I dropped down and threw a knife with my right hand then twisted to throw another with my left. Donte shot the man in the hallway before he could use his weapon. Shot the guy on our right before spotting the blade in his chest.

     He looked at the guy on our left and saw the blade stuck in his eye and watched him drop the weapon he held. With a look at me, he seemed to ask what we should do with the one still alive, at least that’s the question I answered. _“The Lord Marshal will want to question him.”_ Before we could move the wounded Necro grabbed the knife in his eye and slammed it to the hilt, killing himself. We looked at each other in disbelief.


	20. Nobody threatens my mate!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is shaken by what she saw...  
> Vaako thinks it's her first kill.  
> Donte is upset at the assassin's cowardice.  
> Riddick? Riddick is angry!  
> Someone went after his woman, doesn't matter that all three are dead.  
> Someone got them to try! Vaako had better find out who and fast!!

**Chronicles of Jack:**

_This is My Life._

**Chapter 20**

_Nobody threatens my mate!_

 

     I sat on the couch and told Donte I would let him talk when the Lord Marshal arrives. He looked at me and saw that I was shivering, he asked if I was okay but I did not answer him. He grabbed a throw from the back of a chair and draped it over my shoulders. He stood and waited for his Lord Marshal as I sat turning over the events in my head. Had I done the right thing? Taking a life was against Allah's teachings and so I wondered about disappointing my father (may he rest in Allah's arms).

     Riddick and Vacco came in and I registered his deep rumble though not the words he said. Turning in my seat I see he is rushing to me and I stand to be embraced by his strong arms. He then asks of no one in particular, _“What the fuck happened?”_ I shivered and he pulled me closer kissing the top of my head before sitting and pulling me into his lap and rubbing my arms to warm my cold skin. The small blanket is again placed around me and Donte explains the evening we had from the moment Riddick was out of sight to the moment we reached the safety of our rooms.

     Vakko asks Riddick if it was my first kill, to which he chuckles and says, _“No, killing isn’t what’s got her freaked, she’s never seen anyone take their own life.”_ In a small voice, I say, _“It’s not our way. **We** survive to fight another day.”_ He kisses my temple and my body finally thaws. Vakko asks, _“Why is this sort of death upsetting? He chose to end his life to keep from talking, how is this traumatic?”_ I gave a wane smile and let Riddick talk, he looked down at me and squeezed a bit before saying, _“One of the only times I’ve been afraid... was when I was leaving her to keep the mercs away, she said she would never let them use her to trap me. She would take her own life first… I feared she’d really do it. Made her promise me she would not kill herself or make ‘em kill her, told her if she ever gets taken she survives until she can escape and then she runs and hides until I come for her. Promised her I would always come for her. **We keep our promises!** ”_

     I shivered again and said softly, _“I’d already decided that Riddick’s life - his freedom was more important than my own life. I was just an orphaned kid, he was **Riddick**! **My Alpha!** I would do anything for him; to protect him... **even die!**  ...Seeing that Necro drop his weapon in shock... then smelling his fear when I told Donte we needed him alive, Riddick would have questions, he moved so fast slamming my blade into his brain... the coward was not trying to die honorably, he just did not want to face Riddick.”_

     Donte nodded and said, _“I was shocked when he peed his pants at the mention of Riddick, looked at him and took one step toward him to secure him when he grabbed the handle of the blade and rammed it to the hilt. That is **NOT** the **Necromonger way**!”_ I take a breath and say, _“Riddick there was a fourth person… I heard three heartbeats but when two of the ambushers were dead I hadn’t realized that there were still four heartbeats in the hall. After the third guy killed himself the other guy moved away swiftly and we heard soldiers coming at a run. Not knowing if they would be loyal to us or them, we chose to rush back here.”_ All three men looked as though I’d grown a second head. Riddick asked me, _“Did you recognize ‘em?”_ I shook my head and said, _“No - there was no scent, nor was the person where I could see them. I think maybe that was plan B but they chickened out, or whoever wants me dead wanted to see it with their own eyes and ran when the ambush failed.”_

     Donte said to them, _“I believe this fourth person might have been the one to orchestrate the assassination attempt. I believe that if there was a plan B then even if the odds of success were slim to none, an assassin would still try. They would not slink away at the sound of approaching soldiers.”_ Vakko gave a grunt as if to say _‘You did.'_ and Donte gave him a look as if to say ‘ _I was protecting the Consort!’_

     I looked at them and smiled at Riddick when he hugged me tightly. Leaning my head on his shoulder I breathe with him and soon my heart beat is matching his as well. I hear his voice rumble but don’t catch the words. Thinking it might have been important I pay attention to the answer Vaako gives, _“We have men investigating as we speak. They will discover when those men began to associate with each other and whomever they have been talking to recently. We will discover the person or people behind this attempt on the First Consort’s life.”_

     Riddick growled, _“I want ‘em alive! Gonna make an example out of ‘em. Nobody threatens my mate -- **and lives!** ” _

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	21. Needs and a Nightmare.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riddick and Jack are both in need of reassurance, what better way is there?  
> Jack's fears follow her into sleep where a dream soon turns into her worst nightmare.
> 
> Warning: graphic violence in a nightmare!   
> Skip the long section of Bold Italics in Brackets.

**Chronicles of Jack:**

_**This is My Life.** _

**Chapter 21**

**_Needs and a Nightmare._ **

     The commander and my bodyguard left to carry out their Lord Marshal's orders. Riddick held me to his chest for a while, lost in his thoughts. I too was thinking, worrying really. _**{If they went after me will they go after Lajjun and Ziza? Is my family in danger? Could they have found out I’m pregnant? Why now?!}**_

     Riddick growled and only then did I realize I was clinging to him in fear. He once told me the smell of my fear made him angry, made him want to kill whatever scared me. Needing comfort I suddenly kissed his neck and squirmed on his lap. He moved his head, giving me total access to his neck. Showing his mate that he trusted her, in a breathy voice I said, _“Need you!”_

     That was all he needed to spur him to move. Riddick stood and carried me to our room. He laid me down and stripped off his clothes then removed mine slowly until we were both naked. His silver eyes swept over my body and his voice rumbled, _“Need to know you’re really alive, need to feel you under me. Can’t hold back right now!”_ **_{And he wonders why I love him!}_** I reached out my arms to him, inviting him to take me however he needed to. It’s what I needed too!

     The kiss was brutal and harsh and perfect. His hands all over my body, squeezing and groping. Rubbing and guiding me until I lay how he wanted me. He kissed and sucked a path down my body to reach my core. I screamed his name as his mouth and tongue drove me to climax. He surged up licking, sucking and nipping as he went, I taste myself on his tongue and feel his cock rubbing against my slit as he tangles his fingers in my hair.

     Riddick growls _“MINE!”_ as he thrusts his cock deep inside me. I gasp in painful pleasure and feel my nails sink into his back. He continues to thrust hard and fast as I scream out, _“YES! YES! YES!”_ He lifted me onto his lap as he knelt on the bed, keeping himself inside me as he moved. Kissing my neck and moving up to my ear he whispered, _“Take your pleasure, Jackie!”_ So I did! Riding him and dragging my nails down his back. Growling _“My Mate!”_ in his ear. He roared and sunk his teeth into my shoulder pushing me over the edge into a second climax. Again I screamed his name. He swiped his tongue over the bite and held me to his chest.

     I was falling asleep on him when he laid me down on the bed and went into the bathroom. I heard the water running and he was back, lifting me into his arms. He took me into the bathroom and put me in the tub and got in behind me. I let him wash my body and my hair for me. When he finished he stood me up and got out to grab a towel for me and helped me out of the tub. Wrapped my hair in another towel then dried himself off.

     Again he picked me up and carried me to the bedroom where we found the bed had been freshly made and a tray of food left for us. Riddick scented it before allowing me to eat and drink. When we finished eating we laid down under the covers and he pulled me into the protective circle of his arms. As I drifted off I heard him say, _“Sleep Love, you’re safe.”_

      _ **{I was standing near Riddick in the throne room, someone was coming to negotiate with the Necros. I felt a flutter in my womb and looked down to see my very pregnant body in an empire waist dress with a voluminous skirt meant to hide my condition. Fear shot through me, it increased when some hooded Necro pulled my family into the room.**_

_**Looking to Riddick, I see he has two Necro soldiers holding sharp axes at his throat and before I can move to help someone puts a long dagger to my pregnant belly. Someone begins to tell Riddick how screwed he is for his many violations of their religion. When he tells them of my pregnancy a searing pain rips across my belly. A woman slinks up and reaches inside pulling out my uterus and cutting out our baby.** _

_**It was then Ziza broke free and grabbed the baby from the woman. I tried to help but I was chained to the pillar and the chain was at its limit. Riddick began to fight and Lajjun covered Ziza and the baby with her body as nobles moved and soldiers with weapons came in and the man yelled out, “Enough! Unless you want to watch them die?!” I froze, I knew that voice I saw Riddick tense and knew he was resigned to whatever would happen next. He hoped it would keep our family safe. I was dizzy and my vision was tunneling.** _

_**The man moved into my line of sight and I saw it was William Johns the merc. He should be dead!** _ **He held the dagger that had been used to take my baby from me in his left hand. In his right, he held the child so I could not see if it was a boy or girl. He then said, “Maybe we should have a demonstration. You fought us, might be we should show you the consequences.” I screamed as the dagger was brought down, tears blurred my vision and Riddick’s grief-stricken roar was the last thing I heard before everything went black.}**

     Someone was screaming, Riddick was telling me to wake up and shaking me. I became aware that I was the one screaming and I lay curled around my belly trying to protect our child. When he saw I was awake he pulled me into his arms and whispered over and over, _“It was just a nightmare, it’s over now.” “ No one’s gonna hurt you or the baby.” “We’re safe.”_ in random order.

     When I calmed enough he asked if I wanted to tell him about it and I shook my head. He said it might help me get back to sleep if I talked about it. I shook my head again and tried to burrow under him. Sleep was slow in coming but I did fall back to sleep.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	22. Contingency Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riddick and Jack make plans to leave the Necros... but a nightmare and fear of discovery drive Jack to distraction. How will Riddick calm her down?

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**_This is My Life._ **

**Chapter 22**

_**Contingency Plans** _

     It was late when I finally got up the next day. Riddick said, _“Ziza came by. She’s worried about you, said she needed to make sure you were okay.”_ I bit my lip and nodded. His eyebrow shot up and I cleared my throat to speak. He waved me off and said, _“I’ll get you some breakfast.”_ When he left I got up and quickly showered. When I walked back into the room he was sitting on the bed.

     As I watched him I realized he would waite me out. He wanted me to talk. I knew it was for the best, that talking would help me get the worry off my chest. Yet, I was reluctant to talk about it because I know Johns is dead, he can’t hurt me… still, I know Riddick won’t let this go!

     Taking a deep breath I said, _“The Nightmare… we stayed too long, and trying to hide the pregnancy was really wishful thinking. A noble came forward and said you had broken too many of their religious rules. They dragged Lajjun and Ziza in, told the other Necros about the baby and kept us from fighting by holding a dagger to my belly. The next thing I know the one behind me slices into me and a female slinks up and pulls out my uterus… she takes our baby.”_ tears are sliding down my face. _“Ziza broke free and grabbed the baby from the woman and the guy behind me starts talking and comes forward to take the baby from my family that had wrapped their bodies around the child. It was Johns… H-h..he k-killed our baby, we couldn’t do a thing to stop him and I was losing so much blood… I thought I was dying. You roared in agony just as I blacked out. Next thing I know, you were shaking me and someone was screaming as I woke up. I realized it was me and you were trying to wake me.”_

     Hadn’t realized I was shaking and crying until Riddick wiped my cheeks before pulling me into his arms. I could tell he was trying to comfort me… of course, this brought on more tears and confused him all the more. This was the Riddick few ever saw, the side he kept hidden for his protection as he grew up in the home and throughout his criminal career.

     As soon as I could I told him, _“I love you so much!”_ He chuckled softly, _“Happy tears?”_ To which I nodded. He whispered softly, _“What you do to me!”_ He held me tight and kissed my ear. My body decided to let us know I needed food. I was embarrassed by the growls coming from my stomach.

     Riddick grabbed the cart and put it near me so I could eat. He took a brush and began to run it through my hair as I ate. Soon the tray was nearly empty and I was pleasantly full. I sat still to let Riddick finish braiding my hair and was surprised (when he led me to the mirror) to see intricate braids weaved in a complex pattern. He then pulled out a dress Lajjun had created and helped me get dressed. Even put on my socks and boots.

     We went out to Ziza’s playroom and played with her for a few hours, part of me was squirming at the thought of the Necros discovering my pregnancy. Suddenly Riddick said, _“Okay, we’re alone. Let’s figure this out.”_ We began to make plans on how he would give Vakko the crown in exchange for all he knew of Furya and its people. As we finished our plans Riddick was called to deal with some sort of dispute. I offer to come with but he waves me off. Smiling at Ziza I turn to help her color the pictures her mother drew for us. I was hungry long before dinner and so Lajjun ordered tea for us with finger sandwiches, biscuits, and small cakes. Ziza and I enjoyed ourselves and we were scolded by our mother for trying to sneak cookies and cakes before finishing the sandwiches first. She reminded us dinner would be served in a couple of hours or so.

     Dinner was just the family and so we were all relaxed and talked about the things we would like to do in the future. Lajjun spoke of possibly opening a place for children, she wanted to allow them to play, learn and be safe while their parents worked. Ziza spoke of attending school the way I had when she was very little (not the boarding school). I made Riddick go next and was a bit surprised that he wanted to open a mechanic's shop where he could work on ships, bikes, personal vehicles or farm equipment. I finally revealed that I wanted to make hand-crafted items and sell them in a marketplace like we had back home.

     After reading to Ziza and tucking her in, Riddick and I went to our room. He grabbed my hand as I went to get my customary night-shirt from his drawer. We sat on the bed for a few minutes while he gathered his thoughts. The serious look on his face stopped the teasing words I had been about to say. He took off his shirt and dropped it on the mattress. Took a deep breath and began with words that equaled a slap to the face.

_“Someone is fishing for your medical records,”_ Riddick stated in his calm voice. I had been expecting some bad news because of how serious he looked, but this floored me. I was suddenly on edge and as my mind began to spiral in all the possibilities of our secret being discovered so soon, I was afraid for us all. Before I could completely panic Riddick’s arms were around me and I was pulled onto his lap. Riddick rocked me and began to speak.

_“I need you to listen, Jack. Are you listening? Jack! Listen!”_ I looked him in the eyes and tried to listen. He started talking but my mind was reeling and he grabbed my chin in his hand. _“Jack, listen and repeat what I say!”_ It pulled back to the here and now once again.

     I said, “Listen and repeat. Okay.” so he started again. _“If the Necros discover our secret, you will take Lajjun and Ziza to the hanger and take my personal ship. It is always stocked and fueled for me. You will pilot it and get as far from the necros as you can. Repeat it!”_

_“If the Necros find out I’ll get Ziza and mom and get to the hanger. Take the Lord Marshal’s ship and run as far away as we can. We’ll run and hide until you come for us.”_ He nodded and then told me all would be well. There was nothing to find in the medical records. It didn't really help to calm me. Riddick began to undress me and let me take control of this encounter. I appreciated him so much for this.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**


	23. A Chance at Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to save her family, she must decide between leaving without Riddick or waiting for his return.  
> Jack realizes hindsight is 20/20 if she had her druthers...

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**_This is My Life._ **

**Chapter 23**

**_A Chance at Freedom._ **

     Riddick had been called away from the Basilica and Lajjun and me, we were both nervous about his absence. There was an oppressive feeling that was weighing on us. I was being asked to take over the duties that Riddick would have to otherwise postpone. I had little access to him during our day and had to rely on the lore and what the advisers told me. I worried that they were only giving me a small fraction of the information I needed for the task I was performing. I realized I needed a Vakko of my own, someone loyal to Riddick and who was true to the letter of the Necro doctrine.

     I called Riddick and had him ask Vakko for recommendations and told them my reasons for the need. A list was waiting for me the next morning of three people. I talked to each one explained my fear of being given partial information to influence my decisions and asked each one what they would do to help me. I ask them a few questions about working with breeders (as some Necros called us for not going through conversion). I chose my personal adviser and let Vakko know so he could take care of the reassignment.

     The Nobles were upset that Court was postponed two hours, I rolled my eyes when I heard them complaining. Donte and the new advisor stood on each side of the throne as I sat to hear the petty problems of who did what to whom and how so and so wronged what’s his face. After the fifth or sixth case that I took what the Purifier said and turned to consult with my advisor (to his annoyance) before making a decision, he asked who the advisor was and why she was there.

     I smiled and said in a loud voice, _“The lord marshal has his first and his consort to advise him. As I am acting in his stead, I felt I too needed someone to act in Commander Vaako’s stead.”_ The smile I gave him let the Purifier know I would have all the facts and make decisions that meant something for all Necromongers as a people, not just a religion nor would I allow favoritism in these disputes. _**{Kyra wanted to destroy them, but I hope to find another way. Maybe even take them back to the roots of the religion… back before all the convert or kill mentality.}**_

     We adjourned for lunch, I had the advisor come with us to my rooms before releasing her for her lunch, told her to be careful as her new position might tempt someone. She nodded and said she would meet us in the throne room after lunch. My family ate lunch and I assumed Donte had lunch in the kitchen as usual. I told Lajjun that I’d felt uneasy all through court today and there was still more cases to hear after lunch. She asked if I could postpone court until Riddick returned, but I shook my head. Her advice was to hang in there and do what Riddick had advised me. We all hugged and I left them for the afternoon court session.

     The rest of the court went on for hours, I insisted on a few breaks for ‘the people’ though it was really for me. I felt hungry or had to use the restroom so did not care that the Purifier or the nobles might be frustrated by the delays. Soon enough we reached the last case for this week and I listen to the noble that felt wronged and wanted a certain servant the other noble had as compensation. I heard Dame Vaako and another noblewoman whispering in the front row. The other woman said, _“Old fool just wants to fuck the girl, but she is protected by the other noble and he thinks that if he gets her in this deal he can make her come to his bed.”_ Dame Vaako said, _“He knows the Lord Marshal would never allow a girl to be treated like chattel. Does he really think the First Consort will allow it? He truly is a fool!”_

     I spoke to the purifier asking what laws allowed the transfer of Necromonger citizens in such fashion. He stuttered for a moment and his acolyte brought him a screen showing cases like this with the servant in question more often than not being transferred. I checked the dates and they were from Zaylaw’s reign. I consulted with my advisor who showed me a screen full of offenses like the one committed being settled with monetary compensation. I ruled in favor of the first noble with the caveat that the second would pay the first not transfer a servant. The second noble and the servant were both relieved, the Purifier and the first noble where angry. I turned to them and asked my advisor to read the Lord Marshal’s decree from the first such case he heard.

      _“You call yourselves civilized, yet you want to trade people like livestock? No way in hell will I let that happen. Everyone in this armada is a Necro! No Necros will be treated like slaves!”_ She read from the view screen. I looked at the nobles and said, _“If anyone else brings a case before me, trying to go around the Lord Marshal’s edicts. I will have you locked up until he returns!”_ I rose from the throne and Donte and my advisor flanked me as we left the throne room. I heard the women begin to clap and a few of the men joined in some even taunted the noble for trying to pull one over on me.

     As the doors closed behind us I heard someone say, _“People forget that she’s Lord Marshal Riddick’s woman, she just looks all sweet and innocent. It masks the deadly woman she truly is.”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     The nights were the hardest, not having Riddick in our bed even just to sleep was messing with me. I was constantly waking from nightmares were someone would discover our secret and either try to kill me or imprison me and my mother. Sometimes Ziza was in the cells with us and sometimes we had no idea of where she was, The worst was when Vaako came to the cells to tell us Riddick was dead and he was the new Lord Marshal, we could be converted or killed. Regardless of which I chose my baby would die if the lack of good food and water didn’t kill it first. I would not believe Riddick was dead until Vakko showed me his decapitated head. Woke up screaming with Ziza clinging to me as she had come at the first pull of unease in our bond. She held me as I cried myself out. From that night I would sleep in her room and she was always able to wake me before my dreams got too bad.

     Very soon Riddick would be back and I was eager for his return. I did not feel safe and I was surely making enemies left and right. I asked for a day to spend with my family and was reluctantly allowed the next day off. Some animal instinct was demanding I prepare for the inevitable run we would have to do so I took one of the Necro like slinky dresses and took some scissors to the skirt. I created a bag out of the dress and put in a couple changes of clothes, money, hygiene products and extra shoes. Added some jewelry and a couple of outfits for Riddick. I went through my things from the shuttle, I couldn’t keep it all so I needed to decide what I truly could not leave behind.

     Lajjun made a go bag for her and Ziza and I took them both through the ventilation shafts and when I could, snuck them onto Riddick’s personal vessel. I then went back through the shafts to our rooms and went into Ziza’s to try and get some sleep. Even with all the preparations, I felt the nagging feeling that we needed to run and sudden understanding dawned. **_{Oh wow, this is the feeling mom would get! This was how we were able to get away for eleven years.}_** I was up and out of the room in an instant. I was pacing in the study trying to decide how to get word to Riddick that we had to go now! Nothing came to mind, I knew that the Necros (both friend and foe) would see our video-chat or any written communication. Early tomorrow I would take my family and run until I found a safe place to hide and there we would wait for Riddick.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: One more chapter for this fic. Then on to the next (last?) part in this series.


	24. You Can Run…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack leaves Riddick a coded message to let him know her plans. She has to get her family to the hanger after giving their guards the slip. Of course, the Necros will send ships after them and of course, someone would recruit the captain to kill rather than capture... {We should have made the offer to Vakko after we found out someone was looking into my medical records. What’s that saying? Live and Learn? Yeah, first you gotta live!}

**Chronicles of Jack:**

**_This is My Life._ **

**Chapter 24**

**_You Can Run…_ **

 

    I got little sleep last night and first thing this morning was on the video-screen to Riddick. No one answered so I left him a message, hoping he would be able to understand.  

     _“Good morning Lord Marshal Riddick, I am sorry I missed you. Really needed to talk. Well, I had a dream last night, my Mom came to me dressed like that lady you told me about… Sheila, wasn’t it? Anyway, she was all cryptic and ominous, said ‘It is time.’ and then I was a kid again in the market running late to catch a transport. Woke up feeling watched, really freaked me out. Look gotta run, miss you. See you soon.”_ I had made a sign so Riddick would understand my message was encoded as I started speaking. Made the signs to let him know we would run, hide, and wait for him. 

    At breakfast, I told my family I had taken the day off. We began to discuss what we might do today and soon we had some plans sketched out. Donte got the guard ready and we went out to explore the Basilica. We toured a few places before going to watch a sparring match. Ziza had to use the bathroom and Lajjun said we might as well all relieve ourselves. I took one guard and insisted Donte and the others stay to watch the soldiers sparing. I let the guard check the area for us. As soon as he walked in I went in behind him and knocked him out.  Used my blade to cut a few strips of his shirt to bind and gag him. Then went back out and checked if Ziza had to go or if it was a ruse. Luckily Lajjun had told her to squirm and ask for the restroom. 

    I led them to the hanger and then to the ship. We checked that it was stocked and our go bags were still where I’d hidden them. Then I got the ship ready to launch. Before too long I heard someone asking for id and authorization numbers. I hacked into the Basilica’s systems and uncoupled the ship from its moorings. Never speaking to the flight officer or acknowledging her repeated demands. Just then the alarm went up that the First Consort and her family were missing. I flew the ship out of the hanger and left the Necros scrambling to figure out what was happening. Other voices called for me to bring the ship back to birth and I ignored them. I knew they would find that we left of our own accord soon enough. 

    As I flew through the armada,  the voice hailing us would change as new ships tried to get us to comply with their orders. I ignored them all. I plotted a course, heading to the closest inhabited system. Soon there were a few small ships on my tail. I put Lajjun and Ziza into cryosleep while I slept, ate and went through our things searching for any trackers or beacons. Disabled the ship’s beacon and a tracker I found in a chunky necklace Riddick had given me shortly after I told him about the guy that tried to abduct me from New Mecca. Lajjun and Ziza also each had a tracker in matching bangles, I disabled them too. 

    Then, I changed course to try to lose the ships. Soon we were in populated lanes and I sent out a distress signal, saying three ships had latched onto my tail and would not answer my hail.  The message was soon relayed and larger ships come in our direction, I used the confusion to my advantage and did a fast burn into a well-traveled space lane. Even though I knew they would track us down, I had to get planetside to sell this ship and get another. If we could just get a few days ahead of them, I was sure I could sell this ship to some idiot. Then they could follow him wherever he roamed and we could take our time finding a good place to hide and wait for Riddick. We just needed some time! 

    Almost a week later we are close enough to a space hub with no sign of the Necros on our tail. So I ask for permission to land. After I get the okay to dock and do so, I wake the family and we get our things, including food. We get a room for a few days and I find a guy with connections to help me sell the ship asap. The story I give him is that we are running from the men that killed my father. In passing, I said my husband was going to be looking for us when he loses the bastards. The guy chuckled and let me know he’d keep his eyes open. I showed him the only picture I had of Riddick. Asked him to get the most he could for the ship as we needed to get planetside quickly. 

    A couple of days later he met me in the market and we met with a man who’d decided to take his business to another planet. According to my man, the guy was really bad news and would try to get over on us. I asked him if this guy’s possible death would be a problem? It wasn’t so we made a deal for far less than the ship was worth. I asked to double check we had got our things out and he granted me the privilege. My guy and I walked in and I went to the bunks. I put the chip back in the chunky necklace and put it up on a shelf.  We left and I gave my guy his cut. 

    The next morning Lajjun, Ziza and I bought passage on the first transport to another planet in the system. There was a delay in our departure when a ship that had left port had suddenly left the ship lanes and was attacked. I feared the Necros had boarded the ship and would be here soon. Then Lajjun said, _“Jackie, did you hear, they are saying the ship was blown apart. They may not let any ships leave the port.”_ At which point I knew we were safe, but it did not bode well for Riddick. Why did the Necros blast the ship instead of capturing it? Strangely I knew it was a possibility, but part of me worried that this meant he was no longer the Lord Marshal. I knew if he was running he would go the opposite direction so as not to lead them to us. On the other hand, it could be that these Necros were part of those wanting Riddick out and our deaths would bring Riddick to his knees.   ** _{We should have made the offer to Vakko after we found out someone was looking into my medical records. What’s that saying? Live and Learn? Yeah, first you gotta live!}_**

    Why had we never established a way to communicate in case we were separated? How the hell could I let him know we were still alive?! That was when it hit me. I called my guy on the hub, asked him to do me a solid. When he agreed I said, _“No one can know who started the rumor, okay. I need it spread that Richard B. Riddick was spotted either on the hub or the planet.”_ He asked me why I wanted Mercs swarming the place. I told him simply, _“My husband will hear about it, too.”_ Riddick would understand that the sighting happened after the ship was blown apart so we had to be alive to start the rumor. I fervently hoped.

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. The next part in the series is being worked on and I will post it as soon as possible. Thank you for the kudos and comments, they motivate me and feed my muse. - I'm Riddick's Bitch.


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